diff --git a/src/browser.c b/src/browser.c
index efd53635..2c254fa2 100644
--- a/src/browser.c
+++ b/src/browser.c
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ void browser_refresh(void)
 			the_column = col;
 		}
 
-		blank_row(edit, row, col, longest);
+		mvwprintw(edit, row, col, "%*s", longest, " ");
 
 		/* If the name is too long, we display something like "...ename". */
 		if (dots)
diff --git a/src/prompt.c b/src/prompt.c
index 27a428fd..b7862f06 100644
--- a/src/prompt.c
+++ b/src/prompt.c
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ void draw_the_promptbar(void)
 
 	/* Color the promptbar over its full width. */
 	wattron(bottomwin, interface_color_pair[TITLE_BAR]);
-	blank_statusbar();
+	mvwprintw(bottomwin, 0, 0, "%*s", COLS, " ");
 
 	mvwaddstr(bottomwin, 0, 0, prompt);
 	waddch(bottomwin, ':');
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ int do_yesno_prompt(bool all, const char *msg)
 
 		/* Color the statusbar over its full width and display the question. */
 		wattron(bottomwin, interface_color_pair[TITLE_BAR]);
-		blank_statusbar();
+		mvwprintw(bottomwin, 0, 0, "%*s", COLS, " ");
 		mvwaddnstr(bottomwin, 0, 0, msg, actual_x(msg, COLS - 1));
 		wattroff(bottomwin, interface_color_pair[TITLE_BAR]);
 		wnoutrefresh(bottomwin);
diff --git a/src/winio.c b/src/winio.c
index 2f568af7..3a822a85 100644
--- a/src/winio.c
+++ b/src/winio.c
@@ -1794,13 +1794,14 @@ const keystruct *get_shortcut(int *kbinput)
  * current attributes. */
 void blank_row(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, int n)
 {
-	mvwprintw(win, y, x, "%*s", n, " ");
+	wmove(win, y, 0);
+	wclrtoeol(win);
 }
 
 /* Blank the first line of the top portion of the window. */
 void blank_titlebar(void)
 {
-	blank_row(topwin, 0, 0, COLS);
+	mvwprintw(topwin, 0, 0, "%*s", COLS, " ");
 }
 
 /* Blank all the lines of the middle portion of the window, i.e. the