diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9c63376..d7ee274 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@ CHANGELOG
 ------
 - Better cache management and improved rendering for `--tail`
 - Improved `--sync` behavior
-    - When `--sync` is provided, fzf will not render the interface until the initial filtering and associated actions (bound to any of `start`, `load`, or `result`) are complete.
+    - When `--sync` is provided, fzf will not render the interface until the initial filtering and the associated actions (bound to any of `start`, `load`, `result`, or `focus`) are complete.
       ```sh
-      (sleep 1; seq 1000000; sleep 1) | fzf --sync --query 5 --listen --bind start:up,load:up,result:up
+      # fzf will not render intermediate states
+      (sleep 1; seq 1000000; sleep 1) |
+        fzf --sync --query 5 --listen --bind start:up,load:up,result:up,focus:change-header:Ready
       ```
 - GET endpoint is now available from `execute` and `transform` actions (it used to timeout due to lock conflict)
   ```sh
-  fzf --listen --bind 'focus:transform-header:curl -s localhost:$FZF_PORT?limit=0 | jq .'
+  fzf --listen --sync --bind 'focus:transform-header:curl -s localhost:$FZF_PORT?limit=0 | jq .'
   ```
 - Fixed crash when using `--tiebreak=end` with very long items
 - Fixed mouse support on Windows
diff --git a/man/man1/fzf.1 b/man/man1/fzf.1
index 0a541ca..3327e48 100644
--- a/man/man1/fzf.1
+++ b/man/man1/fzf.1
@@ -889,10 +889,17 @@ e.g.
 .TP
 .B "--sync"
 Synchronous search for multi-staged filtering. If specified, fzf will launch
-the finder only after the input stream is complete.
+the finder only after the input stream is complete and the initial filtering
+and the associated actions (bound to any of \fBstart\fR, \fBload\fR,
+\fBresult\fR, or \fBfocus\fR) are complete.
 
 .RS
-e.g. \fBfzf --multi | fzf --sync\fR
+e.g. \fB# Avoid rendering both fzf instances at the same time
+     fzf --multi | fzf --sync
+
+     # fzf will not render intermediate states
+     (sleep 1; seq 1000000; sleep 1) |
+       fzf --sync --query 5 --listen --bind start:up,load:up,result:up,focus:change-header:Ready\fR
 .RE
 .TP
 .B "--with-shell=STR"
diff --git a/src/terminal.go b/src/terminal.go
index 895dd8f..c519c92 100644
--- a/src/terminal.go
+++ b/src/terminal.go
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@ func NewTerminal(opts *Options, eventBox *util.EventBox, executor *util.Executor
 }
 
 func (t *Terminal) deferActivation() bool {
-	return t.initDelay == 0 && (t.hasStartActions || t.hasLoadActions || t.hasResultActions)
+	return t.initDelay == 0 && (t.hasStartActions || t.hasLoadActions || t.hasResultActions || t.hasFocusActions)
 }
 
 func (t *Terminal) environ() []string {
@@ -1237,6 +1237,7 @@ func (t *Terminal) UpdateList(merger *Merger) {
 			t.cy = count - util.Min(count, t.maxItems()) + pos
 		}
 	}
+	needActivation := false
 	if !t.reading {
 		switch t.merger.Length() {
 		case 0:
@@ -1244,6 +1245,8 @@ func (t *Terminal) UpdateList(merger *Merger) {
 			if _, prs := t.keymap[zero]; prs {
 				t.eventChan <- zero
 			}
+			// --sync, only 'focus' is bound, but no items to focus
+			needActivation = t.suppress && !t.hasResultActions && !t.hasLoadActions && t.hasFocusActions
 		case 1:
 			one := tui.One.AsEvent()
 			if _, prs := t.keymap[one]; prs {
@@ -1257,6 +1260,9 @@ func (t *Terminal) UpdateList(merger *Merger) {
 	t.mutex.Unlock()
 	t.reqBox.Set(reqInfo, nil)
 	t.reqBox.Set(reqList, nil)
+	if needActivation {
+		t.reqBox.Set(reqActivate, nil)
+	}
 }
 
 func (t *Terminal) output() bool {