diff --git a/gdk/wayland/gdkdisplay-wayland.c b/gdk/wayland/gdkdisplay-wayland.c
index 5b6fc92099..d9fffe44c2 100644
--- a/gdk/wayland/gdkdisplay-wayland.c
+++ b/gdk/wayland/gdkdisplay-wayland.c
@@ -217,6 +217,13 @@ _gdk_wayland_display_open (const gchar *display_name)
   GdkDisplay *display;
   GdkWaylandDisplay *display_wayland;
 
+  /* If this variable is unset then wayland initialisation will surely
+   * fail, logging a fatal error in the process.  Save ourselves from
+   * that.
+   */
+  if (g_getenv ("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR") == NULL)
+    return NULL;
+
   wl_log_set_handler_client(log_handler);
 
   wl_display = wl_display_connect(display_name);