Don't use a hyperlink to display the device, just use a regular button.

I'm not super happy with this style but it's probably more reliable

src/pavucontrol.glade

@@ -544,17 +544,13 @@ Monitors</property>
                           </packing>
                         </child>
                         <child>
-                          <widget class="GtkEventBox" id="deviceButton">
+                          <widget class="GtkButton" id="deviceButton">
+                            <property name="label" translatable="yes">Device</property>
                             <property name="visible">True</property>
-                            <child>
+                            <property name="can_focus">True</property>
-                              <widget class="GtkLabel" id="deviceLabel">
+                            <property name="receives_default">True</property>
-                                <property name="visible">True</property>
+                            <property name="relief">half</property>
-                                <property name="can_focus">True</property>
+                            <property name="xalign">0</property>
-                                <property name="xalign">0</property>
-                                <property name="label" translatable="yes">&lt;a href=""&gt;Device&lt;/a&gt;</property>
-                                <property name="use_markup">True</property>
-                              </widget>
-                            </child>
                           </widget>
                           <packing>
                             <property name="position">3</property>

src/sinkinputwidget.cc

@@ -61,15 +61,12 @@ SinkInputWidget::~SinkInputWidget(void) {
 void SinkInputWidget::setSinkIndex(uint32_t idx) {
     mSinkIndex = idx;
 
-    gchar *txt;
     if (mpMainWindow->sinkWidgets.count(idx)) {
         SinkWidget *w = mpMainWindow->sinkWidgets[idx];
-        txt = g_markup_printf_escaped("<a href=\"\">%s</a>", w->description.c_str());
+        deviceButton->set_label(w->description.c_str());
     }
     else
-        txt = g_markup_printf_escaped("<a href=\"\">%s</a>", _("Unknown output"));
+        deviceButton->set_label(_("Unknown output"));
-    deviceLabel->set_label(txt);
-    g_free(txt);
 }
 
 uint32_t SinkInputWidget::sinkIndex() {
@@ -157,13 +154,8 @@ void SinkInputWidget::SinkMenuItem::onToggle() {
   pa_operation_unref(o);
 }
 
-bool SinkInputWidget::onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton* event) {
+void SinkInputWidget::onDeviceChangePopup() {
-    if (GDK_BUTTON_PRESS == event->type && 1 == event->button) {
+    clearMenu();
-        clearMenu();
+    buildMenu();
-        buildMenu();
+    menu.popup(1, 0);
-        menu.popup(event->button, event->time);
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    return false;
 }

src/sinkinputwidget.h

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public:
     void setSinkIndex(uint32_t idx);
     uint32_t sinkIndex();
     virtual void executeVolumeUpdate();
-    virtual bool onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton*);
+    virtual void onDeviceChangePopup();
     virtual bool onWidgetButtonEvent(GdkEventButton*);
     virtual void onMuteToggleButton();
     virtual void onKill();

src/sourceoutputwidget.cc

@@ -61,15 +61,12 @@ SourceOutputWidget::~SourceOutputWidget(void) {
 void SourceOutputWidget::setSourceIndex(uint32_t idx) {
     mSourceIndex = idx;
 
-    gchar *txt;
     if (mpMainWindow->sourceWidgets.count(idx)) {
       SourceWidget *w = mpMainWindow->sourceWidgets[idx];
-      txt = g_markup_printf_escaped("<a href=\"\">%s</a>", w->description.c_str());
+      deviceButton->set_label(w->description.c_str());
     }
     else
-      txt = g_markup_printf_escaped("<a href=\"\">%s</a>", _("Unknown input"));
+      deviceButton->set_label(_("Unknown input"));
-    deviceLabel->set_label(txt);
-    g_free(txt);
 }
 
 uint32_t SourceOutputWidget::sourceIndex() {
@@ -132,13 +129,8 @@ void SourceOutputWidget::SourceMenuItem::onToggle() {
   pa_operation_unref(o);
 }
 
-bool SourceOutputWidget::onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton* event) {
+void SourceOutputWidget::onDeviceChangePopup() {
-    if (GDK_BUTTON_PRESS == event->type && 1 == event->button) {
+    clearMenu();
-        clearMenu();
+    buildMenu();
-        buildMenu();
+    menu.popup(1, 0);
-        menu.popup(event->button, event->time);
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    return false;
 }

src/sourceoutputwidget.h

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public:
     uint32_t index, clientIndex;
     void setSourceIndex(uint32_t idx);
     uint32_t sourceIndex();
-    virtual bool onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton*);
+    virtual void onDeviceChangePopup();
     virtual bool onWidgetButtonEvent(GdkEventButton*);
     virtual void onKill();
 

src/streamwidget.cc

@@ -33,11 +33,10 @@ StreamWidget::StreamWidget(BaseObjectType* cobject, const Glib::RefPtr<Gnome::Gl
     x->get_widget("muteToggleButton", muteToggleButton);
     x->get_widget("directionLabel", directionLabel);
     x->get_widget("deviceButton", deviceButton);
-    x->get_widget("deviceLabel", deviceLabel);
 
     this->signal_button_press_event().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &StreamWidget::onWidgetButtonEvent));
     muteToggleButton->signal_clicked().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &StreamWidget::onMuteToggleButton));
-    deviceButton->signal_button_press_event().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &StreamWidget::onDeviceChangePopup));
+    deviceButton->signal_clicked().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &StreamWidget::onDeviceChangePopup));
 
     for (unsigned i = 0; i < PA_CHANNELS_MAX; i++)
         channelWidgets[i] = NULL;
@@ -110,6 +109,5 @@ bool StreamWidget::timeoutEvent() {
 void StreamWidget::executeVolumeUpdate() {
 }
 
-bool StreamWidget::onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton*) {
+void StreamWidget::onDeviceChangePopup() {
-  return false;
 }

src/streamwidget.h

@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ public:
 
     Gtk::ToggleButton *lockToggleButton, *muteToggleButton;
     Gtk::Label *directionLabel;
-    Gtk::EventBox *deviceButton;
+    Gtk::Button *deviceButton;
-    Gtk::Label *deviceLabel;
 
     pa_channel_map channelMap;
     pa_cvolume volume;
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ public:
     ChannelWidget *channelWidgets[PA_CHANNELS_MAX];
 
     virtual void onMuteToggleButton();
-    virtual bool onDeviceChangePopup(GdkEventButton*);
+    virtual void onDeviceChangePopup();
     virtual bool onWidgetButtonEvent(GdkEventButton*);
 
     sigc::connection timeoutConnection;