=== modified file 'src/ui/clipboard.cpp'
--- src/ui/clipboard.cpp	2013-11-09 22:36:13 +0000
+++ src/ui/clipboard.cpp	2014-03-18 17:59:14 +0000
@@ -601,6 +601,12 @@
  */
 Glib::ustring ClipboardManagerImpl::getShapeOrTextObjectId(SPDesktop *desktop)
 {
+    //https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1293979
+    //basically, when we do a depth-first search, we're stopping
+    //at the first object to be <svg:path> or <svg:text>.
+    //but that could then return the id of the object's 
+    //clip path or mask, not the original path!
+	
     SPDocument *tempdoc = _retrieveClipboard(); // any target will do here
     if ( tempdoc == NULL ) {
         _userWarn(desktop, _("Nothing on the clipboard."));
@@ -608,6 +614,9 @@
     }
     Inkscape::XML::Node *root = tempdoc->getReprRoot();
 
+    //1293979: strip out the defs of the document
+    root->removeChild(tempdoc->getDefs()->getRepr());
+
     Inkscape::XML::Node *repr = sp_repr_lookup_name(root, "svg:path", -1); // unlimited search depth
     if ( repr == NULL ) {
         repr = sp_repr_lookup_name(root, "svg:text", -1);