diff --git a/direct/src/showbase/PythonUtil.py b/direct/src/showbase/PythonUtil.py
index a65e3ad4e8..0cbb18e4d1 100644
--- a/direct/src/showbase/PythonUtil.py
+++ b/direct/src/showbase/PythonUtil.py
@@ -2793,8 +2793,10 @@ class HotkeyBreaker:
                 return
             else:
                 if not isinstance(breakKeys, (list,tuple)):
-                    breakKeys = (breakKeys,)
-                for key in breakKeys:
+                    keys = (breakKeys,)
+                else:
+                    keys = tuple(breakKeys)
+                for key in keys:
                     if self.breakKeys.pop(key,False):
                         import pdb;pdb.set_trace()
                         return