diff --git a/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js b/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
index ad631b855..34d09865e 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
+++ b/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
@@ -2687,18 +2687,42 @@ describe('TextEditorComponent', () => {
         expect(component.getScrollLeft()).toBe(maxScrollLeft)
       })
 
-      it('positions the cursor on clicking the middle mouse button on Linux', async () => {
-        // The browser synthesizes the paste as a textInput event on mouseup
-        // so it is not possible to test it here.
+      it('pastes the previously selected text when clicking the middle mouse button on Linux', async () => {
+        spyOn(electron.ipcRenderer, 'send').andCallFake(function (eventName, selectedText) {
+          if (eventName === 'write-text-to-selection-clipboard') {
+            clipboard.writeText(selectedText, 'selection')
+          }
+        })
+
         const {component, editor} = buildComponent({platform: 'linux'})
 
+        // Middle mouse pasting.
         editor.setSelectedBufferRange([[1, 6], [1, 10]])
+        await conditionPromise(() => TextEditor.clipboard.read() === 'sort')
         component.didMouseDownOnContent({
           button: 1,
           clientX: clientLeftForCharacter(component, 10, 0),
           clientY: clientTopForLine(component, 10)
         })
-        expect(editor.getSelectedBufferRange()).toEqual([[10, 0], [10, 0]])
+        expect(TextEditor.clipboard.read()).toBe('sort')
+        expect(editor.lineTextForBufferRow(10)).toBe('sort')
+        editor.undo()
+
+        // Ensure left clicks don't interfere.
+        editor.setSelectedBufferRange([[1, 2], [1, 5]])
+        await conditionPromise(() => TextEditor.clipboard.read() === 'var')
+        component.didMouseDownOnContent({
+          button: 0,
+          detail: 1,
+          clientX: clientLeftForCharacter(component, 10, 0),
+          clientY: clientTopForLine(component, 10)
+        })
+        component.didMouseDownOnContent({
+          button: 1,
+          clientX: clientLeftForCharacter(component, 10, 0),
+          clientY: clientTopForLine(component, 10)
+        })
+        expect(editor.lineTextForBufferRow(10)).toBe('var')
       })
     })
 
diff --git a/src/text-editor-component.js b/src/text-editor-component.js
index e403a1e8f..a910e1828 100644
--- a/src/text-editor-component.js
+++ b/src/text-editor-component.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const {Point, Range} = require('text-buffer')
 const LineTopIndex = require('line-top-index')
 const TextEditor = require('./text-editor')
 const {isPairedCharacter} = require('./text-utils')
+const clipboard = require('./safe-clipboard')
 const electron = require('electron')
 const $ = etch.dom
 
@@ -641,6 +642,7 @@ class TextEditorComponent {
       didBlurHiddenInput: this.didBlurHiddenInput,
       didFocusHiddenInput: this.didFocusHiddenInput,
       didTextInput: this.didTextInput,
+      didPaste: this.didPaste,
       didKeydown: this.didKeydown,
       didKeyup: this.didKeyup,
       didKeypress: this.didKeypress,
@@ -1549,6 +1551,11 @@ class TextEditorComponent {
     }
   }
 
+  didPaste (event) {
+    // TODO Explain the motivation for this logic
+    if ((this.props.platform || process.platform) === 'linux') event.preventDefault()
+  }
+
   didTextInput (event) {
     if (!this.isInputEnabled()) return
 
@@ -1654,8 +1661,10 @@ class TextEditorComponent {
     // textInput event with the contents of the selection clipboard will be
     // dispatched by the browser automatically on mouseup.
     if (platform === 'linux' && button === 1) {
+      const selection = clipboard.readText('selection')
       const screenPosition = this.screenPositionForMouseEvent(event)
       model.setCursorScreenPosition(screenPosition, {autoscroll: false})
+      model.insertText(selection)
       return
     }
 
@@ -3356,8 +3365,8 @@ class CursorsAndInputComponent {
   renderHiddenInput () {
     const {
       lineHeight, hiddenInputPosition, didBlurHiddenInput, didFocusHiddenInput,
-      didTextInput, didKeydown, didKeyup, didKeypress, didCompositionStart,
-      didCompositionUpdate, didCompositionEnd
+      didPaste, didTextInput, didKeydown, didKeyup, didKeypress,
+      didCompositionStart, didCompositionUpdate, didCompositionEnd
     } = this.props
 
     let top, left
@@ -3376,6 +3385,7 @@ class CursorsAndInputComponent {
       on: {
         blur: didBlurHiddenInput,
         focus: didFocusHiddenInput,
+        paste: didPaste,
         textInput: didTextInput,
         keydown: didKeydown,
         keyup: didKeyup,