diff --git a/src/demo/hud.c b/src/demo/hud.c
index b1305f1ac..9b00d7eb6 100644
--- a/src/demo/hud.c
+++ b/src/demo/hud.c
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ typedef struct elem {
   struct elem* next;
 } elem;
 
-static bool menu_unrolled;
 static struct ncmenu* menu;
 static struct ncplane* about; // "about" modal popup
 
@@ -162,6 +161,11 @@ bool menu_or_hud_key(struct notcurses *nc, const struct ncinput *ni){
     if(sel == NULL){
       return false;
     }
+  }else if(menu && ni->id == NCKEY_RELEASE){
+    const char* sel = ncmenu_mouse_selected(menu, ni, &tmpni);
+    if(sel == NULL){
+      memcpy(&tmpni, ni, sizeof(tmpni));
+    }
   }else{
     memcpy(&tmpni, ni, sizeof(tmpni));
   }
@@ -198,21 +202,11 @@ bool menu_or_hud_key(struct notcurses *nc, const struct ncinput *ni){
   if(ncmenu_offer_input(menu, ni)){
     return true;
   }else if(ni->id == 'o' && ni->alt && !ni->ctrl){
-    if(ncmenu_unroll(menu, 0) == 0){
-      menu_unrolled = true;
-    }
+    ncmenu_unroll(menu, 0);
     return true;
   }else if(ni->id == 'h' && ni->alt && !ni->ctrl){
-    if(ncmenu_unroll(menu, 2) == 0){
-      menu_unrolled = true;
-    }
+    ncmenu_unroll(menu, 2);
     return true;
-  }else if(ni->id == '\x1b'){
-    if(menu_unrolled){
-      ncmenu_rollup(menu);
-      menu_unrolled = false;
-      return true;
-    }
   }
   return false;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/menu.c b/src/lib/menu.c
index 601cd572d..bd6a82ab1 100644
--- a/src/lib/menu.c
+++ b/src/lib/menu.c
@@ -511,6 +511,38 @@ const char* ncmenu_selected(const ncmenu* n, ncinput* ni){
   return sec->items[itemidx].desc;
 }
 
+const char* ncmenu_mouse_selected(const ncmenu* n, const ncinput* click,
+                                  ncinput* ni){
+  if(click->id != NCKEY_RELEASE){
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  int y, x, dimy, dimx;
+  struct ncplane* nc = n->ncp;
+  y = click->y;
+  x = click->x;
+  ncplane_dim_yx(nc, &dimy, &dimx);
+  if(!ncplane_translate_abs(nc, &y, &x)){
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  // FIXME section_x() works only off the section header lenghts, meaning that
+  // if we click an item outside of those columns covered by the header, it will
+  // read as a -1 from section_x(). we want to instead get the unrolled section,
+  // find its boundaries, and verify that we are within them.
+  int i = section_x(n, x);
+  if(i < 0 || i != n->unrolledsection){
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  const struct ncmenu_int_section* sec = &n->sections[n->unrolledsection];
+  if(y < 2 || y - 2 >= sec->itemcount){
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  const int itemidx = y - 2;
+  if(ni){
+    memcpy(ni, &sec->items[itemidx].shortcut, sizeof(*ni));
+  }
+  return sec->items[itemidx].desc;
+}
+
 bool ncmenu_offer_input(ncmenu* n, const ncinput* nc){
   // we can't actually select menu items in this function, since we need to
   // invoke an arbitrary function as a result.