diff --git a/src/WindowManager.vala b/src/WindowManager.vala
index ee21b698..1ae7cf30 100644
--- a/src/WindowManager.vala
+++ b/src/WindowManager.vala
@@ -303,6 +303,13 @@ namespace Gala {
             // Most things inside this "later" depend on GTK. We get segfaults if we try to do GTK stuff before the window manager
             // is initialized, so we hold this stuff off until we're ready to draw
             laters.add (Meta.LaterType.BEFORE_REDRAW, () => {
+                unowned string xdg_session_type = Environment.get_variable ("XDG_SESSION_TYPE");
+                if (xdg_session_type == "x11") {
+                    string[] args = {};
+                    unowned string[] _args = args;
+                    Gtk.init (ref _args);
+                }
+
                 accent_color_manager = new AccentColorManager ();
 
                 // initialize plugins and add default components if no plugin overrides them