diff --git a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell-scale.c b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell-scale.c
index 6327b7f1ec..a22aa0f4ca 100644
--- a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell-scale.c
+++ b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell-scale.c
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
 #define SCALE_EPSILON             0.0001
 #define ALMOST_CENTERED_THRESHOLD 2
 
+#define SCALE_UPDATE_INTERVAL (1000 / 90)
+
 #define SCALE_EQUALS(a,b) (fabs ((a) - (b)) < SCALE_EPSILON)
 
 
@@ -494,43 +496,20 @@ gimp_display_shell_scale_update (GimpDisplayShell *shell)
     }
 }
 
-/**
- * gimp_display_shell_scale:
- * @shell:     the #GimpDisplayShell
- * @zoom_type: whether to zoom in, out or to a specific scale
- * @scale:     ignored unless @zoom_type == %GIMP_ZOOM_TO
- *
- * This function figures out the context of the zoom and behaves
- * appropriately thereafter.
- *
- **/
-void
-gimp_display_shell_scale (GimpDisplayShell *shell,
-                          GimpZoomType      zoom_type,
-                          gdouble           new_scale,
-                          GimpZoomFocus     zoom_focus)
+static gboolean
+gimp_display_shell_delayed_scale (GimpDisplayShell *shell)
 {
   GimpDisplayConfig *config;
   gdouble            current_scale;
-  gdouble            delta = 0.0;
+  gdouble            new_scale;
   gboolean           resize_window;
+  GimpZoomFocus      zoom_focus = shell->scale_pending_zoom_focus;
 
-  g_return_if_fail (GIMP_IS_DISPLAY_SHELL (shell));
-  g_return_if_fail (shell->canvas != NULL);
+  shell->scale_delay_timer = 0;
 
   current_scale = gimp_zoom_model_get_factor (shell->zoom);
-
-  if (zoom_type == GIMP_ZOOM_SMOOTH)
-    delta = -new_scale;
-
-  if (zoom_type == GIMP_ZOOM_PINCH)
-    delta = new_scale;
-
-  if (zoom_type != GIMP_ZOOM_TO)
-    new_scale = gimp_zoom_model_zoom_step (zoom_type, current_scale, delta);
-
-  if (SCALE_EQUALS (new_scale, current_scale))
-    return;
+  new_scale = shell->scale_pending;
+  shell->scale_pending = 0.0;
 
   config = shell->display->config;
 
@@ -609,6 +588,61 @@ gimp_display_shell_scale (GimpDisplayShell *shell,
                                                    image_center_almost_centered_vert));
         }
     }
+
+  return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+}
+
+/**
+ * gimp_display_shell_scale:
+ * @shell:     the #GimpDisplayShell
+ * @zoom_type: whether to zoom in, out or to a specific scale
+ * @scale:     ignored unless @zoom_type == %GIMP_ZOOM_TO
+ *
+ * This function figures out the context of the zoom and behaves
+ * appropriately thereafter.
+ *
+ **/
+void
+gimp_display_shell_scale (GimpDisplayShell *shell,
+                          GimpZoomType      zoom_type,
+                          gdouble           new_scale,
+                          GimpZoomFocus     zoom_focus)
+{
+  gdouble current_scale;
+  gdouble delta = 0.0;
+
+  g_return_if_fail (GIMP_IS_DISPLAY_SHELL (shell));
+  g_return_if_fail (shell->canvas != NULL);
+
+  if (shell->scale_delay_timer)
+    {
+      current_scale = shell->scale_pending;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      current_scale = gimp_zoom_model_get_factor (shell->zoom);
+    }
+
+  if (zoom_type == GIMP_ZOOM_SMOOTH)
+    delta = -new_scale;
+
+  if (zoom_type == GIMP_ZOOM_PINCH)
+    delta = new_scale;
+
+  if (zoom_type != GIMP_ZOOM_TO)
+    new_scale = gimp_zoom_model_zoom_step (zoom_type, current_scale, delta);
+
+  if (SCALE_EQUALS (new_scale, current_scale))
+    return;
+
+  shell->scale_pending = new_scale;
+  shell->scale_pending_zoom_focus = zoom_focus;
+
+  if (!shell->scale_delay_timer)
+    {
+      shell->scale_delay_timer =
+        g_timeout_add(SCALE_UPDATE_INTERVAL, (GSourceFunc) gimp_display_shell_delayed_scale, shell);
+    }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.c b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.c
index 358ef3dbfe..7e8ca0ffdf 100644
--- a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.c
+++ b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.c
@@ -388,6 +388,8 @@ gimp_display_shell_init (GimpDisplayShell *shell)
   shell->near_layer_vertical2         = NULL;
   shell->drawn                        = FALSE;
 
+  shell->scale_delay_timer = 0;
+
   env = g_getenv ("GIMP_DISPLAY_RENDER_BUF_SIZE");
 
   if (env)
diff --git a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.h b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.h
index c5b345e485..aa1b26dfef 100644
--- a/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.h
+++ b/app/display/gimpdisplayshell.h
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ struct _GimpDisplayShell
   gpointer           scroll_info;
   GimpLayer         *picked_layer;
 
+  gint               scale_delay_timer;
+  gdouble            scale_pending;
+  GimpZoomFocus      scale_pending_zoom_focus;
+
   GeglBuffer        *mask;
   gint               mask_offset_x;
   gint               mask_offset_y;