diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5b14cc6c6ba..8628fc875d0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5435,6 +5435,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "dirs-next",
  "euclid",
  "filedescriptor",
+ "futures-util",
  "gl_generator",
  "glium",
  "guillotiere",
@@ -5470,6 +5471,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "xcb",
  "xcb-imdkit",
  "xkbcommon",
+ "zbus",
+ "zvariant",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/docs/changelog.md b/docs/changelog.md
index 47c19eff54e..9eed5654cdc 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/changelog.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ As features stabilize some brief notes about them will accumulate here.
 * New [wezterm.json_parse()](config/lua/wezterm/json_parse.md) and [wezterm.json_encode()](config/lua/wezterm/json_encode.md) functions for working with JSON.
 * Hundreds of new color schemes have been imported from [base16](https://github.com/chriskempson/base16-schemes-source), [Gogh](https://gogh-co.github.io/Gogh/) and [terminal.sexy](https://terminal.sexy/). [Browse the schemes](colorschemes/index.md) and look for themes with `(base16)`, `(Gogh)` and `(terminal.sexy)` in the name to discover them!
 * [pane:is_alt_screen_active()](config/lua/pane/is_alt_screen_active.md) for testing whether the alt screen is active. Thanks to [@Funami580](https://github.com/Funami580)! [#2234](https://github.com/wez/wezterm/issues/2234)
+* X11/Wayland: XDG desktop portal is now used to determine whether dark mode is in use [#2258](https://github.com/wez/wezterm/issues/2258)
 
 #### Fixed
 * [ActivateKeyTable](config/lua/keyassignment/ActivateKeyTable.md)'s `replace_current` field was not actually optional. Made it optional. [#2179](https://github.com/wez/wezterm/issues/2179)
diff --git a/wezterm-toast-notification/Cargo.toml b/wezterm-toast-notification/Cargo.toml
index 613074cfaab..ccaef9d4481 100644
--- a/wezterm-toast-notification/Cargo.toml
+++ b/wezterm-toast-notification/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ log = "0.4"
 
 [target.'cfg(all(not(windows), not(target_os="macos")))'.dependencies]
 serde = {version="1.0", features = ["derive"]}
-zbus = "2.0.0"
-zvariant = "3.0"
+zbus = "2.3.0"
+zvariant = "3.4"
 async-std = "1.4"
 futures-util = "0.3"
 
diff --git a/window/Cargo.toml b/window/Cargo.toml
index 09d63925b95..58f1a36ed7c 100644
--- a/window/Cargo.toml
+++ b/window/Cargo.toml
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ wayland-protocols = {version="0.29", optional=true}
 wayland-client = {version="0.29", optional=true}
 wayland-egl = {version="0.29", optional=true}
 xcb-imdkit = { version="0.2", git="https://github.com/wez/xcb-imdkit-rs.git", rev="ede7c71b85fe2537efef6cf999a45690316211cf"}
+serde = {version="1.0", features = ["derive"]}
+zbus = "2.3.0"
+zvariant = "3.4"
+futures-util = "0.3"
 
 [target.'cfg(target_os="macos")'.dependencies]
 cocoa = "0.20"
diff --git a/window/src/os/mod.rs b/window/src/os/mod.rs
index 26b132349bf..21c6b01835b 100644
--- a/window/src/os/mod.rs
+++ b/window/src/os/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pub use self::windows::*;
 pub mod wayland;
 pub mod x11;
 pub mod x_and_wayland;
+pub mod xdg_desktop_portal;
 pub mod xkeysyms;
 
 #[cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "macos")))]
diff --git a/window/src/os/x_and_wayland.rs b/window/src/os/x_and_wayland.rs
index d61a84334ff..142d9f3f2f1 100644
--- a/window/src/os/x_and_wayland.rs
+++ b/window/src/os/x_and_wayland.rs
@@ -132,6 +132,21 @@ impl ConnectionOps for Connection {
     }
 
     fn get_appearance(&self) -> Appearance {
+        match promise::spawn::block_on(crate::os::xdg_desktop_portal::read_setting(
+            "org.freedesktop.appearance",
+            "color-scheme",
+        )) {
+            Ok(value) => match value.downcast_ref::<u32>() {
+                Some(1) => return Appearance::Dark,
+                Some(_) => return Appearance::Light,
+                None => {
+                    log::debug!("Unable to resolve appearance using xdg-desktop-portal: expected a u32 value but got {value:#?}");
+                }
+            },
+            Err(err) => {
+                log::debug!("Unable to resolve appearance using xdg-desktop-portal: {err:#}");
+            }
+        }
         match self {
             Self::X11(x) => x.get_appearance(),
             #[cfg(feature = "wayland")]
diff --git a/window/src/os/xdg_desktop_portal.rs b/window/src/os/xdg_desktop_portal.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d459b184b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/window/src/os/xdg_desktop_portal.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#![cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "macos")))]
+
+//! <https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal/blob/main/data/org.freedesktop.portal.Settings.xml>
+
+use anyhow::Context;
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use zbus::dbus_proxy;
+use zvariant::OwnedValue;
+
+#[dbus_proxy(
+    interface = "org.freedesktop.portal.Settings",
+    default_service = "org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop",
+    default_path = "/org/freedesktop/portal/desktop"
+)]
+trait PortalSettings {
+    fn ReadAll(
+        &self,
+        namespaces: &[&str],
+    ) -> zbus::Result<HashMap<String, HashMap<String, OwnedValue>>>;
+
+    fn Read(&self, namespace: &str, key: &str) -> zbus::Result<OwnedValue>;
+
+    #[dbus_proxy(signal)]
+    fn SettingChanged(&self, namespace: &str, key: &str, value: OwnedValue) -> Result<()>;
+}
+
+pub async fn read_setting(namespace: &str, key: &str) -> anyhow::Result<OwnedValue> {
+    let connection = zbus::ConnectionBuilder::session()?.build().await?;
+    let proxy = PortalSettingsProxy::new(&connection)
+        .await
+        .context("make proxy")?;
+    proxy.Read(namespace, key).await.context("Read")
+}