diff --git a/src/workspace.c b/src/workspace.c
index 291f754a..40f68bf8 100644
--- a/src/workspace.c
+++ b/src/workspace.c
@@ -175,17 +175,18 @@ void workspace_show(xcb_connection_t *conn, int workspace) {
         Workspace *old_workspace = c_ws;
         c_ws = t_ws->output->current_workspace = workspace_get(workspace-1);
 
-        /* Unmap all clients of the old workspace */
-        workspace_unmap_clients(conn, old_workspace);
-
         current_row = c_ws->current_row;
         current_col = c_ws->current_col;
         DLOG("new current row = %d, current col = %d\n", current_row, current_col);
 
-        ipc_send_event("workspace", I3_IPC_EVENT_WORKSPACE, "{\"change\":\"focus\"}");
-
+        /* Map new clients before unmapping old clients to prevent wallpaper flickering */
         workspace_map_clients(conn, c_ws);
 
+        /* Unmap all clients of the old workspace */
+        workspace_unmap_clients(conn, old_workspace);
+
+        ipc_send_event("workspace", I3_IPC_EVENT_WORKSPACE, "{\"change\":\"focus\"}");
+
         /* POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE HERE: due to the call to _map_clients first and
          * render_layout afterwards, there is a short flickering on the source
          * workspace (assign ws 3 to output 0, ws 4 to output 1, create single