diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 6983fba..1f074bf 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ var iconPNG []byte
 
 var preferredTheme = flag.String("theme", "", "Specify the theme to be used. dark/light")
 var linger = flag.String("linger", "", "If specified, linger for the given duration (e.g. 10s) before actually closing.")
+var x11 = flag.Bool("x11", false, "Force the X11 backend (Linux, XWayland): uses the window manager's decorations instead of shirei's client-side titlebar")
 
 type Gitmoji struct {
 	Emoji       string
@@ -86,9 +87,8 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	app.SetupWindow("Gitmoji Picker", 300, 300)
-	app.SetupIconBytes(iconPNG)
-	app.Run(RootView)
+	setupWindow("Gitmoji Picker", 300, 300)
+	runWindow(RootView)
 }
 
 func loadEntries(gitmojiData *GitmojiData) {
diff --git a/window_linux.go b/window_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f86bd0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/window_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+//go:build linux
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"image/png"
+
+	app "go.hasen.dev/shirei/app"
+	"go.hasen.dev/shirei/x11backend"
+)
+
+// setupWindow opens the window via shirei's app backend, or directly via the
+// X11 backend when -x11 is given: on Wayland sessions shirei always draws its
+// own client-side titlebar (xdg-decoration negotiation is not implemented in
+// shirei v0.8), while XWayland windows get real server-side decorations from
+// the window manager.
+func setupWindow(title string, width, height int) {
+	if *x11 {
+		x11backend.SetupWindow(title, width, height)
+		if img, err := png.Decode(bytes.NewReader(iconPNG)); err == nil {
+			x11backend.SetupIconImage(img)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	app.SetupWindow(title, width, height)
+	app.SetupIconBytes(iconPNG)
+}
+
+func runWindow(frameFn func()) {
+	if *x11 {
+		x11backend.Run(frameFn)
+		return
+	}
+	app.Run(frameFn)
+}
diff --git a/window_other.go b/window_other.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f558280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/window_other.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+//go:build !linux
+
+package main
+
+import app "go.hasen.dev/shirei/app"
+
+func setupWindow(title string, width, height int) {
+	app.SetupWindow(title, width, height)
+	app.SetupIconBytes(iconPNG)
+}
+
+func runWindow(frameFn func()) {
+	app.Run(frameFn)
+}