The standard picture of desorption induced by electronic transitions (DIET) is analyzed for high excited state quenching rates. Simple dynamical considerations are found to explain the velocity distributions characterizing a large number of photodesorption and electron stimulated desorption systems. Without invoking any thermalization processes, the model predicts a Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution, thus providing a theoretical justification for this distribution’s widespread use as an empirical fitting formula for velocity distributions of nonthermally desorbed species.