diff --git a/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c b/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
index 197c6fde9..c1e749181 100644
--- a/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
+++ b/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
@@ -1674,6 +1674,11 @@ meta_x11_display_reload_cursor (MetaX11Display *x11_display)
   /* Set a cursor for X11 applications that don't specify their own */
   xcursor = XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (x11_display->xdisplay,
                                       meta_cursor_get_name (META_CURSOR_DEFAULT));
+  if (!xcursor)
+    {
+      xcursor = XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (x11_display->xdisplay,
+                                          meta_cursor_get_legacy_name (META_CURSOR_DEFAULT));
+    }
 
   XDefineCursor (x11_display->xdisplay, x11_display->xroot, xcursor);
   XFlush (x11_display->xdisplay);