diff -r eb1281b43b5d src/core/linux/SDL_udev.c
--- a/src/core/linux/SDL_udev.c	Tue Mar 25 14:33:34 2014 -0700
+++ b/src/core/linux/SDL_udev.c	Tue Mar 25 22:15:20 2014 +0000
@@ -308,7 +308,21 @@
         }
 
         if (devclass == 0) {
-            return;
+            // Fall back to old style input classes
+            val = _this->udev_device_get_property_value(dev, "ID_CLASS");
+            if (val != NULL) {
+                if (SDL_strcmp(val, "joystick") == 0) {
+                    devclass = SDL_UDEV_DEVICE_JOYSTICK;
+                } else if (SDL_strcmp(val, "mouse") == 0) {
+                    devclass = SDL_UDEV_DEVICE_MOUSE;
+                } else if (SDL_strcmp(val, "kbd") == 0) {
+                    devclass = SDL_UDEV_DEVICE_KEYBOARD;
+                } else {
+                    return;
+                }
+            } else {
+                return;
+            }
         }
     } else {
         return;