diff --git a/src/backend/wayland/wl_backend.c b/src/backend/wayland/wl_backend.c
index 9a67e32..898f9f7 100644
--- a/src/backend/wayland/wl_backend.c
+++ b/src/backend/wayland/wl_backend.c
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@
 #include "../../appicon.h"     /* WAppIcon */
 #include "../../menu.h"        /* WMenu, WMenuEntry */
 #include "../../balloon.h"     /* WBalloon */
+#include "../../dialog.h"      /* WMRestart, WMAbort */
 #include "../backend.h"
 #include "wl_backend.h"
 
@@ -3968,9 +3969,14 @@ wl_screen_init_display(WScreen *scr, int screen_number)
 static int
 wl_show_crash_dialog(int sig)
 {
+    /* Wayland: showing a UI from a crashed compositor's child process is
+     * not possible (the child would need to connect to the dead parent
+     * for its compositor).  Default to auto-restart, which is the most
+     * useful behavior for a daily-driver compositor — the user's session
+     * recovers on its own.  The crash signal is logged separately by
+     * the monitor parent. */
     (void)sig;
-    werror(_("cannot open connection for crashing dialog panel. Aborting."));
-    return 0; /* WMAbort */
+    return WMRestart;
 }
 
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------------ */