diff --git a/sway/config/bar.c b/sway/config/bar.c
index 48a632fb..b8695798 100644
--- a/sway/config/bar.c
+++ b/sway/config/bar.c
@@ -99,10 +99,6 @@ struct bar_config *default_bar_config(void) {
 	if (!(bar->bindings = create_list())) {
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
-	if (!(bar->status_command =
-			strdup("while date +'%Y-%m-%d %l:%M:%S %p'; do sleep 1; done"))) {
-		goto cleanup;
-	}
 	// set default colors
 	if (!(bar->colors.background = strndup("#000000ff", 9))) {
 		goto cleanup;
diff --git a/sway/ipc-json.c b/sway/ipc-json.c
index 7c5a0a5d..f02f370b 100644
--- a/sway/ipc-json.c
+++ b/sway/ipc-json.c
@@ -514,8 +514,8 @@ json_object *ipc_json_describe_bar_config(struct bar_config *bar) {
 			json_object_new_string(bar->hidden_state));
 	json_object_object_add(json, "position",
 			json_object_new_string(bar->position));
-	json_object_object_add(json, "status_command",
-			json_object_new_string(bar->status_command));
+	json_object_object_add(json, "status_command", bar->status_command ?
+			json_object_new_string(bar->status_command) : NULL);
 	json_object_object_add(json, "font",
 			json_object_new_string((bar->font) ? bar->font : config->font));
 	if (bar->separator_symbol) {
diff --git a/swaybar/bar.c b/swaybar/bar.c
index c86e71b8..3990f1ca 100644
--- a/swaybar/bar.c
+++ b/swaybar/bar.c
@@ -572,8 +572,8 @@ void bar_run(struct swaybar *bar) {
 		add_event(bar->status->read_fd, POLLIN, status_in, bar);
 	}
 	while (1) {
-		event_loop_poll();
 		wl_display_flush(bar->display);
+		event_loop_poll();
 	}
 }