diff --git a/krunner/ollie_runner.cpp b/krunner/ollie_runner.cpp
index f06bdb7..473405d 100644
--- a/krunner/ollie_runner.cpp
+++ b/krunner/ollie_runner.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 #include <QClipboard>
 #include <QApplication>
 #include <QLabel>
+#include <QProcess>
+#include <QThread>
 
 K_PLUGIN_CLASS_WITH_JSON(OllieRunner, "metadata.json")
 
@@ -201,6 +203,19 @@ void OllieRunner::run(const RunnerNS::RunnerContext &context, const RunnerNS::Qu
                        QDBusConnection::sessionBus());
     if (gui.isValid()) {
         gui.call(QDBus::NoBlock, "SelectSession", sessionId);
+    } else {
+        // GUI not running — launch it, then ask it to select the session
+        QProcess::startDetached("ollie-gui", {});
+        // Poll for D-Bus registration (up to 3 seconds)
+        for (int i = 0; i < 30; ++i) {
+            QThread::msleep(100);
+            QDBusInterface retry("org.ollie.Gui", "/org/ollie/Gui", "org.ollie.Gui",
+                                 QDBusConnection::sessionBus());
+            if (retry.isValid()) {
+                retry.call(QDBus::NoBlock, "SelectSession", sessionId);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
     }
 }