diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt4agg.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt4agg.py
index 39b2793831e7..b6830573c983 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt4agg.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt4agg.py
@@ -73,22 +73,6 @@ def __init__(self, figure):
         self._drawRect = None
         self.blitbox = None
         self.setAttribute(QtCore.Qt.WA_OpaquePaintEvent)
-        # it has been reported that Qt is semi-broken in a windows
-        # environment.  If `self.draw()` uses `update` to trigger a
-        # system-level window repaint (as is explicitly advised in the
-        # Qt documentation) the figure responds very slowly to mouse
-        # input.  The work around is to directly use `repaint`
-        # (against the advice of the Qt documentation).  The
-        # difference between `update` and repaint is that `update`
-        # schedules a `repaint` for the next time the system is idle,
-        # where as `repaint` repaints the window immediately.  The
-        # risk is if `self.draw` gets called with in another `repaint`
-        # method there will be an infinite recursion.  Thus, we only
-        # expose windows users to this risk.
-        if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
-            self._priv_update = self.repaint
-        else:
-            self._priv_update = self.update
 
 
 FigureCanvas = FigureCanvasQTAgg
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5.py
index c39d406e0d28..baf76593cc57 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5.py
@@ -334,8 +334,7 @@ def resizeEvent(self, event):
         hinch = h / dpival
         self.figure.set_size_inches(winch, hinch)
         FigureCanvasBase.resize_event(self)
-        self.draw()
-        self.update()
+        self.draw_idle()
         QtWidgets.QWidget.resizeEvent(self, event)
 
     def sizeHint(self):
@@ -417,17 +416,7 @@ def stop_event_loop(self):
     stop_event_loop.__doc__ = FigureCanvasBase.stop_event_loop_default.__doc__
 
     def draw_idle(self):
-        'update drawing area only if idle'
-        d = self._idle
-        self._idle = False
-
-        def idle_draw(*args):
-            try:
-                self.draw()
-            finally:
-                self._idle = True
-        if d:
-            QtCore.QTimer.singleShot(0, idle_draw)
+        self.update()
 
 
 class MainWindow(QtWidgets.QMainWindow):
@@ -666,7 +655,7 @@ def zoom(self, *args):
         self._update_buttons_checked()
 
     def dynamic_update(self):
-        self.canvas.draw()
+        self.canvas.draw_idle()
 
     def set_message(self, s):
         self.message.emit(s)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5agg.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5agg.py
index a97c1cf5ab86..2ab431bfccaa 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5agg.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_qt5agg.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class FigureCanvasQTAggBase(object):
 
     def drawRectangle(self, rect):
         self._drawRect = rect
-        self.repaint()
+        self.draw_idle()
 
     def paintEvent(self, e):
         """
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ def paintEvent(self, e):
         In Qt, all drawing should be done inside of here when a widget is
         shown onscreen.
         """
+        FigureCanvasAgg.draw(self)
 
         # FigureCanvasQT.paintEvent(self, e)
         if DEBUG:
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ def draw(self):
         # causes problems with code that uses the result of the
         # draw() to update plot elements.
         FigureCanvasAgg.draw(self)
-        self._priv_update()
+        self.update()
 
     def blit(self, bbox=None):
         """
@@ -183,22 +184,6 @@ def __init__(self, figure):
         self._drawRect = None
         self.blitbox = None
         self.setAttribute(QtCore.Qt.WA_OpaquePaintEvent)
-        # it has been reported that Qt is semi-broken in a windows
-        # environment.  If `self.draw()` uses `update` to trigger a
-        # system-level window repaint (as is explicitly advised in the
-        # Qt documentation) the figure responds very slowly to mouse
-        # input.  The work around is to directly use `repaint`
-        # (against the advice of the Qt documentation).  The
-        # difference between `update` and repaint is that `update`
-        # schedules a `repaint` for the next time the system is idle,
-        # where as `repaint` repaints the window immediately.  The
-        # risk is if `self.draw` gets called with in another `repaint`
-        # method there will be an infinite recursion.  Thus, we only
-        # expose windows users to this risk.
-        if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
-            self._priv_update = self.repaint
-        else:
-            self._priv_update = self.update
 
 
 FigureCanvas = FigureCanvasQTAgg