diff --git a/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c b/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
index 3c3a65061..40339cef8 100644
--- a/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
+++ b/src/x11/meta-x11-display.c
@@ -1671,10 +1671,9 @@ static void
 meta_x11_display_reload_cursor (MetaX11Display *x11_display)
 {
   Cursor xcursor;
-  MetaCursor cursor = x11_display->display->current_cursor;
-
   /* Set a cursor for X11 applications that don't specify their own */
-  xcursor = meta_create_x_cursor (x11_display->xdisplay, cursor);
+  xcursor = XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (x11_display->xdisplay,
+                                      meta_cursor_get_name (META_CURSOR_DEFAULT));
 
   XDefineCursor (x11_display->xdisplay, x11_display->xroot, xcursor);
   XFlush (x11_display->xdisplay);