diff --git a/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.json b/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cac4c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+  "area": [
+    {
+      "height": 151,
+      "match": 95,
+      "type": "match",
+      "width": 190,
+      "xpos": 0,
+      "ypos": 602
+    }
+  ],
+  "properties": [
+    "workaround"
+  ],
+  "tags": [
+    "kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted",
+    "kickoff-alternatives-popup"
+  ]
+}
+
diff --git a/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.png b/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..610d6a1
Binary files /dev/null and b/neon/needles/kickoff/kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted.png differ
diff --git a/neon/tests/plasma/plasma_alternatives.pm b/neon/tests/plasma/plasma_alternatives.pm
index 6638fe6..d1ad835 100644
--- a/neon/tests/plasma/plasma_alternatives.pm
+++ b/neon/tests/plasma/plasma_alternatives.pm
@@ -1,72 +1,78 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2018 Bhavisha Dhruve <bhavishadhruve@gmail.com>
 # Copyright (C) 2016-2018 Harald Sitter <sitter@kde.org>
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
 # published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
 # the License or (at your option) version 3 or any later version
 # accepted by the membership of KDE e.V. (or its successor approved
 # by the membership of KDE e.V.), which shall act as a proxy
 # defined in Section 14 of version 3 of the license.
 #
 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 # GNU General Public License for more details.
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 use base "basetest_neon";
 use strict;
 use testapi;
 
 sub run {
     assert_screen 'folder-desktop';
 
-    # Starts the Alternative Menu
-    assert_and_click 'plasma-launcher', 'right';
+    do {
+        # Close open popup if there is any.
+        send_key 'esc';
+
+        # Starts the Alternative Menu
+        assert_and_click 'plasma-launcher', 'right';
+
+        # Selects the Application Menu
+        assert_and_click 'kickoff-alternatives';
+        assert_screen 'kickoff-alternatives-popup';
+
+        # Repeat this entire dance if the popup has corrupted graphics.
+        # This happens every so often and renders the popup incorrectly. If
+        # we were to click at this point we'd be selecting an off-by-one item.
+        # instead of the intended one.
+        # Cause unknown.
+    } while (match_has_tag 'kickoff-alternatives-popup-corrupted');
 
-    # Selects the Application Menu
-    assert_and_click 'kickoff-alternatives';
     assert_and_click 'kickoff-alternatives-popup';
 
     # Switches to Application Menu
-    # FIXME: temporary hack. there is a rendering bug appearing every so often
-    #   where the popup is corrupted and the entries are off-set by 1, so we'd
-    #   click the wrong entry. a wait may fix this if the corruption is
-    #   transient. if not, we'll need to assert that the screen is not corrupted
-    #   and only then do the click. if it is corrupted we'll need to reopen
-    #   the popup until it is not.
-    wait_still_screen;
     assert_and_click 'plasma-alternatives-switch';
     assert_screen 'folder-desktop';
 
     # Check if kicker opens instead of kickoff
     assert_and_click 'plasma-launcher';
     assert_screen 'plasma-kicker';
     send_key 'esc';
 
     # Roll back to kickoff
     assert_and_click 'plasma-launcher', 'right';
     assert_and_click 'kickoff-alternatives';
     assert_and_click 'kickoff-alternatives-launcher';
     assert_and_click 'plasma-alternatives-switch';
     assert_screen 'folder-desktop';
     assert_and_click 'plasma-launcher';
     assert_screen 'kickoff-popup';
     wait_still_screen;
     send_key 'esc';
     wait_still_screen;
     assert_screen 'folder-desktop';
 }
 
 sub test_flags {
     # without anything - rollback to 'lastgood' snapshot if failed
     # 'fatal' - whole test suite is in danger if this fails
     # 'milestone' - after this test succeeds, update 'lastgood'
     # 'important' - if this fails, set the overall state to 'fail'
     return { important => 1 };
 }
 
 1;