diff --git a/src/wimpiggy/lowlevel/bindings.pyx b/src/wimpiggy/lowlevel/bindings.pyx
index 1b4fffe5e0..c91170dd23 100644
--- a/src/wimpiggy/lowlevel/bindings.pyx
+++ b/src/wimpiggy/lowlevel/bindings.pyx
@@ -438,6 +438,16 @@ def gdk_atom_objects_from_gdk_atom_array(atom_string):
         objects.append(PyGdkAtom_New(array[i]))
     return objects
 
+def gdk_atom_array_from_gdk_atom_objects(gdk_atom_objects):
+    cdef GdkAtom c_gdk_atom
+    cdef unsigned long gdk_atom_value
+    atom_array = []
+    for atom_object in gdk_atom_objects:
+        c_gdk_atom = PyGdkAtom_Get(atom_object)
+        gdk_atom_value = <unsigned long> c_gdk_atom
+        atom_array.append(gdk_atom_value)
+    return atom_array
+
 
 # Property handling:
 
diff --git a/src/xpra/xposix/xclipboard.py b/src/xpra/xposix/xclipboard.py
index b4e12c3386..f5e1b420b6 100644
--- a/src/xpra/xposix/xclipboard.py
+++ b/src/xpra/xposix/xclipboard.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 
 import struct
 
-from wimpiggy.lowlevel import (get_xatom, gdk_atom_objects_from_gdk_atom_array) #@UnresolvedImport
+from wimpiggy.lowlevel import (gdk_atom_objects_from_gdk_atom_array, #@UnresolvedImport
+                               gdk_atom_array_from_gdk_atom_objects) #@UnresolvedImport
 from wimpiggy.log import Logger
 log = Logger()
 
@@ -30,7 +31,8 @@ def _do_munge_raw_selection_to_wire(self, type, format, data):
 
     def _munge_wire_selection_to_raw(self, encoding, datatype, format, data):
         if encoding == "atoms":
-            ints = [get_xatom(a) for a in data]
-            log.debug("wire to raw: atoms(%s)=%s", data, ints)
-            return struct.pack("=" + "L" * len(ints), *ints)
+            import gtk.gdk
+            gdk_atoms = [gtk.gdk.atom_intern(a) for a in data]
+            atom_array = gdk_atom_array_from_gdk_atom_objects(gdk_atoms)
+            return struct.pack("=" + "I" * len(atom_array), *atom_array)
         return ClipboardProtocolHelperBase._munge_wire_selection_to_raw(self, encoding, datatype, format, data)