diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/sway/wrapper.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/sway/wrapper.nix
index 319023eb2e5a..964828fdaba7 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/sway/wrapper.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/sway/wrapper.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ let
   baseWrapper = writeShellScriptBin "sway" ''
      set -o errexit
      if [ ! "$_SWAY_WRAPPER_ALREADY_EXECUTED" ]; then
+       export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=sway
        ${extraSessionCommands}
        export _SWAY_WRAPPER_ALREADY_EXECUTED=1
      fi