diff --git a/udevd.c b/udevd.c
index 331b7e4b84..f8b8c27ee4 100644
--- a/udevd.c
+++ b/udevd.c
@@ -205,14 +205,18 @@ static void *exec_queue_manager(void * parm)
 	}
 }
 
+static void exec_queue_activate(void)
+{
+	pthread_mutex_lock(&exec_active_lock);
+	pthread_cond_signal(&exec_active);
+	pthread_mutex_unlock(&exec_active_lock);
+}
+
 /* move message from incoming to exec queue */
 static void msg_move_exec(struct list_head *head)
 {
 	list_move_tail(head, &exec_list);
-	/* signal queue activity to manager */
-	pthread_mutex_lock(&exec_active_lock);
-	pthread_cond_signal(&exec_active);
-	pthread_mutex_unlock(&exec_active_lock);
+	exec_queue_activate();
 }
 
 /* queue management thread handles the timeouts and dispatches the events */
@@ -298,9 +302,17 @@ static void *client_threads(void * parm)
 		goto exit;
 	}
 
-	pthread_mutex_lock(&msg_lock);
-	msg_queue_insert(msg);
-	pthread_mutex_unlock(&msg_lock);
+	/* if no seqnum is given, we move straight to exec queue */
+	if (msg->seqnum == 0) {
+		pthread_mutex_lock(&exec_lock);
+		list_add(&msg->list, &exec_list);
+		exec_queue_activate();
+		pthread_mutex_unlock(&exec_lock);
+	} else {
+		pthread_mutex_lock(&msg_lock);
+		msg_queue_insert(msg);
+		pthread_mutex_unlock(&msg_lock);
+	}
 
 exit:
 	close(sock);
diff --git a/udevsend.c b/udevsend.c
index d3c74dd46a..9dc2b2e841 100644
--- a/udevsend.c
+++ b/udevsend.c
@@ -148,11 +148,10 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	}
 
 	seqnum = get_seqnum();
-	if (seqnum == NULL) {
-		dbg("no seqnum");
-		goto exit;
-	}
-	seq = atoi(seqnum);
+	if (seqnum == NULL)
+		seq = 0;
+	else
+		seq = atoi(seqnum);
 
 	sock = socket(AF_LOCAL, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
 	if (sock == -1) {