diff --git a/WPrefs.app/main.c b/WPrefs.app/main.c
index 414fa00..a6bb396 100644
--- a/WPrefs.app/main.c
+++ b/WPrefs.app/main.c
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ void AddDeadChildHandler(pid_t pid, void (*handler) (void *), void *data)
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
-	Display *dpy;
 	WMScreen *scr;
 	char *path;
 	int i;
@@ -136,20 +135,22 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	bind_textdomain_codeset("WPrefs", "UTF-8");
 	textdomain("WPrefs");
 
-	if (!XSupportsLocale()) {
-		wwarning(_("X server does not support locale"));
-	}
-	if (XSetLocaleModifiers("") == NULL) {
-		wwarning(_("cannot set locale modifiers"));
+	/* X11 locale checks only meaningful in X11 mode.  In Wayland mode
+	 * locale handling is delegated to xkbcommon / glib. */
+	if (!getenv("WAYLAND_DISPLAY") || getenv("DISPLAY")) {
+		if (!XSupportsLocale()) {
+			wwarning(_("X server does not support locale"));
+		}
+		if (XSetLocaleModifiers("") == NULL) {
+			wwarning(_("cannot set locale modifiers"));
+		}
 	}
 #endif
 
-	dpy = XOpenDisplay(display_name);
-	if (!dpy) {
-		wfatal(_("could not open display %s"), XDisplayName(display_name));
-		exit(0);
-	}
-	scr = WMCreateScreen(dpy, DefaultScreen(dpy));
+	/* WMOpenScreen autodetects Wayland-client mode (WAYLAND_DISPLAY set
+	 * and DISPLAY unset, or display string starts with "wayland").
+	 * In X11 mode it transparently does XOpenDisplay + WMCreateScreen. */
+	scr = WMOpenScreen(display_name);
 	if (!scr) {
 		wfatal(_("could not initialize application"));
 		exit(0);