diff --git a/src/actions.c b/src/actions.c
index 4365679..05b619a 100644
--- a/src/actions.c
+++ b/src/actions.c
@@ -4116,12 +4116,20 @@ cmd_exchangeright (int interactive, struct cmdarg **args)
 cmdret *
 cmd_swap (int interactive, struct cmdarg **args)
 {
+  rp_screen *s;
   rp_frame *dest_frame;
   rp_frame *src_frame;
 
   dest_frame = ARG(0, frame);
   src_frame = args[1] ? ARG (1, frame) : current_frame();
-  
+
+  if (!rp_have_xinerama)
+    {
+      s = find_screen_by_frame(src_frame);
+      if (screen_find_frame_by_frame(s, dest_frame) == NULL)
+    	return cmdret_new (RET_FAILURE, "swap: frames on different screens");
+    }
+
   exchange_with_frame (current_screen(), src_frame, dest_frame);
 
   return cmdret_new (RET_SUCCESS, NULL);
diff --git a/src/ratpoison.h b/src/ratpoison.h
diff --git a/src/screen.c b/src/screen.c
index 88b95b7..f474996 100644
--- a/src/screen.c
+++ b/src/screen.c
@@ -161,6 +161,19 @@ find_screen (Window w)
    return NULL;
  }
 
+/* Given a frame, return the rp_screen struct it belongs to */
+rp_screen *
+find_screen_by_frame (rp_frame *f)
+{
+  int i;
+
+  for (i=0; i<num_screens; i++)
+    if (screen_find_frame_by_frame(&screens[i], f) != NULL)
+      return &screens[i];
+
+   return NULL;
+ }
+
 /* Return 1 if w is a root window of any of the screens. */
 int
 is_a_root_window (unsigned int w)
diff --git a/src/screen.h b/src/screen.h
index d83ba4b..fe8d1cc 100644
--- a/src/screen.h
+++ b/src/screen.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ void screen_free_nums (rp_screen *s);
 void frameset_free (struct list_head *head);
 rp_frame *screen_get_frame (rp_screen *s, int frame_num);
 rp_frame *screen_find_frame_by_frame (rp_screen *s, rp_frame *f);
+rp_screen *find_screen_by_frame (rp_frame *f);
 
 void init_screens (int screen_arg, int screen_num);