diff --git a/st.c b/st.c
index bcf96e9..23dd7f1 100644
--- a/st.c
+++ b/st.c
@@ -3136,8 +3136,8 @@ xinit(void) {
 		| ButtonMotionMask | ButtonPressMask | ButtonReleaseMask;
 	xw.attrs.colormap = xw.cmap;
 
-	parent = opt_embed ? strtol(opt_embed, NULL, 0) : \
-			XRootWindow(xw.dpy, xw.scr);
+	if (!(opt_embed && (parent = strtol(opt_embed, NULL, 0))))
+		parent = XRootWindow(xw.dpy, xw.scr);
 	xw.win = XCreateWindow(xw.dpy, parent, xw.l, xw.t,
 			xw.w, xw.h, 0, XDefaultDepth(xw.dpy, xw.scr), InputOutput,
 			xw.vis, CWBackPixel | CWBorderPixel | CWBitGravity