diff --git a/src/she/alleg4/app.mm b/src/she/alleg4/app.mm
index 8505088fe..b0b4ab722 100644
--- a/src/she/alleg4/app.mm
+++ b/src/she/alleg4/app.mm
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 #include "she/alleg4/alleg_display.h"
 #include "she/event.h"
-#include "she/system.h"
+#include "she/event_queue.h"
 
 void* get_osx_window()
 {
diff --git a/src/she/alleg4/display_events.cpp b/src/she/alleg4/display_events.cpp
index 0b044697e..8ee5de4b4 100644
--- a/src/she/alleg4/display_events.cpp
+++ b/src/she/alleg4/display_events.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include "she/alleg4/alleg_display.h"
 #include "she/display.h"
 #include "she/event.h"
-#include "she/system.h"
+#include "she/event_queue.h"
 
 #include <allegro.h>
 
diff --git a/src/she/alleg4/mouse_poller.cpp b/src/she/alleg4/mouse_poller.cpp
index b68652cfa..6e796faf2 100644
--- a/src/she/alleg4/mouse_poller.cpp
+++ b/src/she/alleg4/mouse_poller.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include "she/clock.h"
 #include "she/display.h"
 #include "she/event.h"
-#include "she/system.h"
+#include "she/event_queue.h"
 
 #include <allegro.h>
 
diff --git a/src/she/alleg4/she.cpp b/src/she/alleg4/she.cpp
index c9b88db1e..cbefd2838 100644
--- a/src/she/alleg4/she.cpp
+++ b/src/she/alleg4/she.cpp
@@ -70,22 +70,7 @@ namespace she {
 
 class Alleg4EventQueue : public EventQueue {
 public:
-  Alleg4EventQueue() {
-    clock_init();
-    display_events_init();
-
-#ifdef USE_KEY_POLLER
-    key_poller_init();
-#endif
-
-#ifdef USE_MOUSE_POLLER
-    mouse_poller_init();
-#endif
-  }
-
-  ~Alleg4EventQueue() {
-    clock_exit();
-  }
+  static Alleg4EventQueue g_queue;
 
   void getEvent(Event& event, bool canWait) override {
     (void)canWait;              // Ignore this parameter
@@ -115,6 +100,12 @@ private:
   base::concurrent_queue<Event> m_events;
 };
 
+Alleg4EventQueue g_queue;
+
+EventQueue* EventQueue::instance() {
+  return &g_queue;
+}
+
 class Alleg4System : public CommonSystem {
 public:
   Alleg4System()
@@ -131,16 +122,25 @@ public:
     // Register PNG as a supported bitmap type
     register_bitmap_file_type("png", load_png, save_png);
 
+    // Init event sources
+    clock_init();
+    display_events_init();
+#ifdef USE_KEY_POLLER
+    key_poller_init();
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_MOUSE_POLLER
+    mouse_poller_init();
+#endif
+
     g_instance = this;
-    m_queue.reset(new Alleg4EventQueue);
   }
 
   ~Alleg4System() {
-    m_queue.reset();
-    g_instance = nullptr;
-
+    clock_exit();
     remove_timer();
     allegro_exit();
+
+    g_instance = nullptr;
   }
 
   void dispose() override {
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ public:
     return (Capabilities)(kCanResizeDisplayCapability);
   }
 
-  EventQueue* eventQueue() override {
-    return m_queue;
+  EventQueue* eventQueue() override { // TODO remove this function
+    return EventQueue::instance();
   }
 
   Display* defaultDisplay() override {
@@ -188,9 +188,6 @@ public:
     set_color_conversion(old_color_conv);
     return sur;
   }
-
-private:
-  base::UniquePtr<Alleg4EventQueue> m_queue;
 };
 
 System* create_system() {
diff --git a/src/she/event_queue.h b/src/she/event_queue.h
index 690d26934..d874b25be 100644
--- a/src/she/event_queue.h
+++ b/src/she/event_queue.h
@@ -17,8 +17,18 @@ namespace she {
     virtual ~EventQueue() { }
     virtual void getEvent(Event& ev, bool canWait) = 0;
     virtual void queueEvent(const Event& ev) = 0;
+
+    // On MacOS X we need the EventQueue before the creation of the
+    // System. E.g. when we double-click a file an Event to open that
+    // file is queued in application:openFile:, code which is executed
+    // before the user's main() code.
+    static EventQueue* instance();
   };
 
+  inline void queue_event(const Event& ev) {
+    EventQueue::instance()->queueEvent(ev);
+  }
+
 } // namespace she
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/she/system.h b/src/she/system.h
index e1340ab98..83acf66e5 100644
--- a/src/she/system.h
+++ b/src/she/system.h
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include "she/capabilities.h"
-#include "she/event_queue.h"
 
 #include <stdexcept>
 
@@ -17,6 +16,7 @@ namespace she {
 
   class Clipboard;
   class Display;
+  class EventQueue;
   class Font;
   class Logger;
   class NativeDialogs;
@@ -49,10 +49,6 @@ namespace she {
   System* create_system();
   System* instance();
 
-  inline void queue_event(const Event& ev) {
-    instance()->eventQueue()->queueEvent(ev);
-  }
-
 } // namespace she
 
 #endif