diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index d387b3b71..8b47e1364 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 This document attempts to list user-visible changes and any major internal
 rearrangements of Notcurses.
 
+* 2.3.2 (not yet released)
+  * `ncinput_nomod_p()` has been added. This function returns `true` if and
+    only if its `ncinput` argument has no modifiers active.
+
 * 2.3.1 (2021-05-18)
   * Sprixels no longer interact with their associated plane's framebuffer. This
     means plane contents are maintainted across blitting a sprixel and then
diff --git a/USAGE.md b/USAGE.md
index a1cb26eb9..8e299a28a 100644
--- a/USAGE.md
+++ b/USAGE.md
@@ -655,6 +655,11 @@ notcurses_getc_blocking(struct notcurses* n, ncinput* ni){
   sigemptyset(&sigmask);
   return notcurses_getc(n, NULL, &sigmask, ni);
 }
+
+static inline bool
+ncinput_nomod_p(const ncinput* ni){
+  return !ni->alt && !ni->ctrl && !ni->shift;
+}
 ```
 
 By default, certain keys are mapped to signals by the terminal's line
diff --git a/doc/man/man3/notcurses_input.3.md b/doc/man/man3/notcurses_input.3.md
index a0196088b..559ffa2d9 100644
--- a/doc/man/man3/notcurses_input.3.md
+++ b/doc/man/man3/notcurses_input.3.md
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ typedef struct ncinput {
 
 **bool nckey_mouse_p(char32_t ***r***);**
 
+**bool ncinput_nomod_p(const ncinput* ***ni***);**
+
 **char32_t notcurses_getc(struct notcurses* ***n***, const struct timespec* ***ts***, const sigset_t* ***sigmask***, ncinput* ***ni***);**
 
 **char32_t notcurses_getc_nblock(struct notcurses* ***n***, ncinput* ***ni***);**
diff --git a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
index d9ab4d79b..74196767d 100644
--- a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
+++ b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
@@ -1055,6 +1055,11 @@ notcurses_getc_blocking(struct notcurses* n, ncinput* ni){
   return notcurses_getc(n, NULL, &sigmask, ni);
 }
 
+static inline bool
+ncinput_nomod_p(const ncinput* ni){
+  return !ni->alt && !ni->ctrl && !ni->shift;
+}
+
 // Enable the mouse in "button-event tracking" mode with focus detection and
 // UTF8-style extended coordinates. On failure, -1 is returned. On success, 0
 // is returned, and mouse events will be published to notcurses_getc().
diff --git a/src/poc/tree.c b/src/poc/tree.c
index 7f8ceb235..7da5e122d 100644
--- a/src/poc/tree.c
+++ b/src/poc/tree.c
@@ -399,9 +399,8 @@ tree_ui(struct notcurses* nc, struct nctree* tree){
       if(notcurses_render(nc)){
         return -1;
       }
-      continue;
-    }
-    if(ni.id == 'q'){
+    }else if(ni.id == '/' && ncinput_nomod_p(&ni)){
+    }else if(ni.id == 'q' && ncinput_nomod_p(&ni)){
       return 0;
     }
   }