diff --git a/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.cpp b/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.cpp
index abd7ee6e..f8669d00 100644
--- a/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.cpp
+++ b/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.cpp
@@ -25,39 +25,59 @@ namespace kaleidoscope {
 namespace plugin {
 
 char FocusSerial::command_[32];
-
-void FocusSerial::drain(void) {
-  if (Runtime.serialPort().available())
-    while (Runtime.serialPort().peek() != '\n')
-      Runtime.serialPort().read();
-}
+uint8_t FocusSerial::buf_cursor_ = 0;
 
 EventHandlerResult FocusSerial::afterEachCycle() {
-  if (Runtime.serialPort().available() == 0)
+  // If the serial buffer is empty, we don't have any work to do
+  if (Runtime.serialPort().available() == 0) {
     return EventHandlerResult::OK;
+  }
 
-  uint8_t i = 0;
   do {
-    command_[i++] = Runtime.serialPort().read();
+    command_[buf_cursor_++] = Runtime.serialPort().read();
+  } while (command_[buf_cursor_ - 1] != SEPARATOR
+           && buf_cursor_ < sizeof(command_)
+           && Runtime.serialPort().available()
+           && (Runtime.serialPort().peek() != NEWLINE));
 
-    if (Runtime.serialPort().peek() == '\n')
-      break;
-  } while (command_[i - 1] != ' ' && i < 32);
-  if (command_[i - 1] == ' ')
-    command_[i - 1] = '\0';
-  else
-    command_[i] = '\0';
 
-  Runtime.onFocusEvent(command_);
-
-  Runtime.serialPort().println(F("\r\n."));
+  // If there was no command, there's nothing to do
+  if (command_[0] == '\0') {
+    buf_cursor_ = 0;
+    memset(command_, 0, sizeof(command_));
+    return EventHandlerResult::OK;
+  }
 
-  drain();
+  if ((command_[buf_cursor_ - 1] != SEPARATOR)  && (Runtime.serialPort().peek() != NEWLINE)
+      && buf_cursor_ < sizeof(command_)
+     ) {
+    // We don't have enough command to work with yet.
+    // Let's leave the buffer around for another cycle
+    return EventHandlerResult::OK;
+  }
 
-  if (Runtime.serialPort().peek() == '\n')
-    Runtime.serialPort().read();
+  // If this was a command with a space-delimited payload,
+  // strip the space delimiter off
+  if ((command_[buf_cursor_ - 1] == SEPARATOR)) {
+    command_[buf_cursor_ - 1] = '\0';
+  }
 
+  // Then process the command
+  Runtime.onFocusEvent(command_);
+  while (Runtime.serialPort().available()) {
+    char c =  Runtime.serialPort().read();
+    if (c == NEWLINE) {
+      // newline serves as an end-of-command marker
+      // don't drain the buffer past there
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  // End of command processing is signalled with a CRLF followed by a single period
+  Runtime.serialPort().println(F("\r\n."));
+  buf_cursor_ = 0;
+  memset(command_, 0, sizeof(command_));
   return EventHandlerResult::OK;
+
 }
 
 bool FocusSerial::handleHelp(const char *command,
diff --git a/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.h b/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.h
index 0c39937b..231bd2a5 100644
--- a/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.h
+++ b/plugins/Kaleidoscope-FocusSerial/src/kaleidoscope/plugin/FocusSerial.h
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ class FocusSerial : public kaleidoscope::Plugin {
  public:
   FocusSerial(void) {}
 
+  static constexpr char COMMENT = '#';
+  static constexpr char SEPARATOR = ' ';
+  static constexpr char NEWLINE = '\n';
+
   bool handleHelp(const char *command,
                   const char *help_message);
 
@@ -83,12 +87,9 @@ class FocusSerial : public kaleidoscope::Plugin {
   }
 
   bool isEOL() {
-    return Runtime.serialPort().peek() == '\n';
+    return Runtime.serialPort().peek() == NEWLINE;
   }
 
-  static constexpr char COMMENT = '#';
-  static constexpr char SEPARATOR = ' ';
-  static constexpr char NEWLINE = '\n';
 
   /* Hooks */
   EventHandlerResult afterEachCycle();
@@ -96,8 +97,7 @@ class FocusSerial : public kaleidoscope::Plugin {
 
  private:
   static char command_[32];
-
-  static void drain(void);
+  static uint8_t buf_cursor_;
   static void printBool(bool b);
 };
 }