diff --git a/cmd/micro/micro.go b/cmd/micro/micro.go
index 19ab25d5..950e8888 100644
--- a/cmd/micro/micro.go
+++ b/cmd/micro/micro.go
@@ -278,8 +278,8 @@ func main() {
 
 	// clear the drawchan so we don't redraw excessively
 	// if someone requested a redraw before we started displaying
-	for len(screen.DrawChan) > 0 {
-		<-screen.DrawChan
+	for len(screen.DrawChan()) > 0 {
+		<-screen.DrawChan()
 	}
 
 	// wait for initial resize event
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ func DoEvent() {
 		}
 	case <-shell.CloseTerms:
 	case event = <-events:
-	case <-screen.DrawChan:
+	case <-screen.DrawChan():
 	}
 
 	if action.InfoBar.HasPrompt {
diff --git a/internal/screen/screen.go b/internal/screen/screen.go
index f601af1c..19f9bd8c 100644
--- a/internal/screen/screen.go
+++ b/internal/screen/screen.go
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ var Screen tcell.Screen
 // The lock is necessary since the screen is polled on a separate thread
 var lock sync.Mutex
 
-// DrawChan is a channel that will cause the screen to redraw when
+// drawChan is a channel that will cause the screen to redraw when
 // written to even if no event user event has occurred
-var DrawChan chan bool
+var drawChan chan bool
 
 // Lock locks the screen lock
 func Lock() {
@@ -38,12 +38,17 @@ func Unlock() {
 // Redraw schedules a redraw with the draw channel
 func Redraw() {
 	select {
-	case DrawChan <- true:
+	case drawChan <- true:
 	default:
 		// channel is full
 	}
 }
 
+// DrawChan returns the draw channel
+func DrawChan() chan bool {
+	return drawChan
+}
+
 type screenCell struct {
 	x, y  int
 	r     rune
@@ -122,7 +127,7 @@ func TempStart(screenWasNil bool) {
 
 // Init creates and initializes the tcell screen
 func Init() {
-	DrawChan = make(chan bool)
+	drawChan = make(chan bool)
 
 	// Should we enable true color?
 	truecolor := os.Getenv("MICRO_TRUECOLOR") == "1"