diff --git a/src/audio/alsa/SDL_alsa_audio.c b/src/audio/alsa/SDL_alsa_audio.c
index 66672b9a1..bdc9e841f 100644
--- a/src/audio/alsa/SDL_alsa_audio.c
+++ b/src/audio/alsa/SDL_alsa_audio.c
@@ -333,33 +333,34 @@ static void no_swizzle(SDL_AudioDevice *device, void *buffer, Uint32 bufferlen)
 /* This function waits until it is possible to write a full sound buffer */
 static void ALSA_WaitDevice(SDL_AudioDevice *device)
 {
-    const snd_pcm_sframes_t needed = (snd_pcm_sframes_t)device->sample_frames;
-    while (!SDL_AtomicGet(&device->shutdown)) {
-        const snd_pcm_sframes_t rc = ALSA_snd_pcm_avail(device->hidden->pcm_handle);
-        if (rc < 0 && rc != -EAGAIN) {
-            int status = rc;
+    const int fulldelay = (int) ((((Uint64) device->sample_frames) * 1000) / device->spec.freq);
+    const int delay = SDL_max(fulldelay, 10);
 
-            status = ALSA_snd_pcm_recover(device->hidden->pcm_handle, status, 0);
+    while (!SDL_AtomicGet(&device->shutdown)) {
+        const int rc = ALSA_snd_pcm_wait(device->hidden->pcm_handle, delay);
+        if (rc < 0 && (rc != -EAGAIN)) {
+            const int status = ALSA_snd_pcm_recover(device->hidden->pcm_handle, rc, 0);
             if (status < 0) {
                 /* Hmm, not much we can do - abort */
-                fprintf(stderr, "ALSA snd_pcm_avail failed (unrecoverable): %s\n",
+                SDL_LogError(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_AUDIO, "ALSA snd_pcm_avail failed (unrecoverable): %s\n",
                         ALSA_snd_strerror(rc));
                 SDL_AudioDeviceDisconnected(device);
             }
             return;
-        } else if (rc < needed) {
-            const Uint32 delay = ((needed - (SDL_max(rc, 0))) * 1000) / device->spec.freq;
-            SDL_Delay(SDL_max(delay, 10));
-        } else {
-            break; /* ready to go! */
         }
+
+        if (rc > 0) {
+            break;  // ready to go!
+        }
+
+        // Timed out! Make sure we aren't shutting down and then wait again.
     }
 }
 
 static int ALSA_PlayDevice(SDL_AudioDevice *device, const Uint8 *buffer, int buflen)
 {
     SDL_assert(buffer == device->hidden->mixbuf);
-    Uint8 *sample_buf = device->hidden->mixbuf;
+    Uint8 *sample_buf = (Uint8 *) buffer;  // !!! FIXME: deal with this without casting away constness
     const int frame_size = SDL_AUDIO_FRAMESIZE(device->spec);
     snd_pcm_uframes_t frames_left = (snd_pcm_uframes_t) (buflen / frame_size);
 
@@ -368,6 +369,7 @@ static int ALSA_PlayDevice(SDL_AudioDevice *device, const Uint8 *buffer, int buf
     while ((frames_left > 0) && !SDL_AtomicGet(&device->shutdown)) {
         int status = ALSA_snd_pcm_writei(device->hidden->pcm_handle,
                                          sample_buf, frames_left);
+        //SDL_Log("ALSA PLAYDEVICE: WROTE %d of %d bytes", (status >= 0) ? ((int) (status * frame_size)) : status, (int) (frames_left * frame_size));
         if (status < 0) {
             if (status == -EAGAIN) {
                 /* Apparently snd_pcm_recover() doesn't handle this case -
@@ -399,6 +401,13 @@ static int ALSA_PlayDevice(SDL_AudioDevice *device, const Uint8 *buffer, int buf
 
 static Uint8 *ALSA_GetDeviceBuf(SDL_AudioDevice *device, int *buffer_size)
 {
+    const snd_pcm_sframes_t rc = ALSA_snd_pcm_avail(device->hidden->pcm_handle);
+    const int requested_frames = SDL_min(device->sample_frames, rc);
+    SDL_assert(requested_frames > 0);
+    const int requested_bytes = requested_frames * SDL_AUDIO_FRAMESIZE(device->spec);
+    SDL_assert(requested_bytes <= *buffer_size);
+    //SDL_Log("ALSA GETDEVICEBUF: NEED %d BYTES", requested_bytes);
+    *buffer_size = requested_bytes;
     return device->hidden->mixbuf;
 }