>  >> Maybe we should indeed rebind 'buffer-list-update-hook' around the
 >  >> 'generate-new-buffer' and 'kill-buffer' calls of 'with-temp-buffer'.
 >  >
 >  > Wouldn't that be a backward-incompatible change?
 >
 > It would be a backward-incompatible change.
 >
 >  > How long did we call
 >  > that hook for temporary buffers?
 >
 > Ever since that hook existed.
 >
 >  > Also, can generate-new-buffer and/or
 >  > kill-buffer run some hooks which might modify other, non-temporary
 >  > buffers?
 >
 > 'generate-new-buffer' calls 'get-buffer-create' and that one runs only
 > 'buffer-list-update-hook'.  'kill-buffer' runs its usual hooks and if
 > one of them runs 'kill-buffer' for another buffer we'd have a problem.
 >
 > An even more radical solution would be to never run
 > 'buffer-list-update-hook' for buffers whose name starts with a space.
 > Backward-incompatible as well but cleaner from a designer's POV.
 >
 > In either case it wouldn't help the OP since he probably (hopefully)
 > won't need a solution for Emacs 27 (where he should be able to use
 > 'window-selection-change-functions' instead) and we are certainly not
 > going to change this for Emacs 26.

Stefan asked me to add a variable 'inhibit-buffer-list-update-hook'
and I came up with the attached.  WDYT?

martin