diff --git a/events.cpp b/events.cpp
index aa814e2dd6..eeb4fd5233 100644
--- a/events.cpp
+++ b/events.cpp
@@ -741,14 +741,8 @@ void Client::configureRequestEvent(xcb_configure_request_event_t *e)
     }
 
     if (e->value_mask & XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_BORDER_WIDTH) {
-        // TODO: port to XCB
         // first, get rid of a window border
-        XWindowChanges wc;
-        unsigned int value_mask = 0;
-
-        wc.border_width = 0;
-        value_mask = XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_BORDER_WIDTH;
-        XConfigureWindow(display(), window(), value_mask, & wc);
+        m_client.setBorderWidth(0);
     }
 
     if (e->value_mask & (XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_X | XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_Y | XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_HEIGHT | XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_WIDTH))
diff --git a/manage.cpp b/manage.cpp
index a79f451592..b54fc0cb5a 100644
--- a/manage.cpp
+++ b/manage.cpp
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ void Client::embedClient(xcb_window_t w, const XWindowAttributes& attr)
 
     m_client.selectInput(zero_value);
     m_client.unmap();
-    xcb_configure_window(conn, m_client, XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_BORDER_WIDTH, &zero_value);
+    m_client.setBorderWidth(zero_value);
 
     // Note: These values must match the order in the xcb_cw_t enum
     const uint32_t cw_values[] = {
diff --git a/xcbutils.h b/xcbutils.h
index 281185e065..027105cf85 100644
--- a/xcbutils.h
+++ b/xcbutils.h
@@ -437,6 +437,7 @@ public:
     void unmap();
     void reparent(xcb_window_t parent, int x = 0, int y = 0);
     void deleteProperty(xcb_atom_t property);
+    void setBorderWidth(uint32_t width);
     /**
      * Clears the window area. Same as xcb_clear_area with x, y, width, height being @c 0.
      **/
@@ -633,6 +634,15 @@ void Window::deleteProperty(xcb_atom_t property)
     xcb_delete_property(connection(), m_window, property);
 }
 
+inline
+void Window::setBorderWidth(uint32_t width)
+{
+    if (!isValid()) {
+        return;
+    }
+    xcb_configure_window(connection(), m_window, XCB_CONFIG_WINDOW_BORDER_WIDTH, &width);
+}
+
 inline
 void Window::clear()
 {