diff --git a/config.h.meson b/config.h.meson
index b2a23596f..f4d6000e1 100644
--- a/config.h.meson
+++ b/config.h.meson
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@
 /* Whether Xwayland has -initfd option */
 #mesondefine HAVE_XWAYLAND_INITFD
 
+/* Whether libX11 has XSetIOErrorExitHandler */
+#mesondefine HAVE_XSETIOERROREXITHANDLER
+
 /* Whether the mkostemp function exists */
 #mesondefine HAVE_MKOSTEMP
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 885437931..07b2d0066 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -424,6 +424,13 @@ if have_wayland
   endif
 endif
 
+have_xsetioerrorexithandler = false
+if cc.has_function('XSetIOErrorExitHandler', dependencies: x11_dep,
+                   prefix: '''#include <X11/Xlib.h>''')
+  have_xsetioerrorexithandler = true
+  cdata.set('HAVE_XSETIOERROREXITHANDLER', 1)
+endif
+
 optional_functions = [
   'mkostemp',
   'posix_fallocate',
@@ -495,6 +502,7 @@ output = [
   '        Introspection............ ' + have_introspection.to_string(),
   '        Profiler................. ' + have_profiler.to_string(),
   '        Xwayland initfd.......... ' + have_xwayland_initfd.to_string(),
+  '        Safe X11 I/O errors...... ' + have_xsetioerrorexithandler.to_string(),
   '',
   '    Tests:',
   '',
diff --git a/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c b/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
index 88a04e5a2..f3dd19260 100644
--- a/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
+++ b/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
@@ -334,6 +334,20 @@ x_io_error (Display *display)
   return 0;
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_XSETIOERROREXITHANDLER
+static void
+x_io_error_exit (Display        *display,
+                 MetaX11Display *x11_display)
+{
+  MetaWaylandCompositor *compositor = meta_wayland_compositor_get_default ();
+  MetaXWaylandManager *manager = &compositor->xwayland_manager;
+
+  g_warning ("Xwayland just died, attempting to recover");
+  manager->xserver_grace_period_id =
+    g_idle_add (shutdown_xwayland_cb, manager);
+}
+#endif
+
 void
 meta_xwayland_override_display_number (int number)
 {
@@ -795,6 +809,9 @@ meta_xwayland_complete_init (MetaDisplay *display,
      we won't reset the tty).
   */
   XSetIOErrorHandler (x_io_error);
+#ifdef HAVE_XSETIOERROREXITHANDLER
+  XSetIOErrorExitHandler (xdisplay, x_io_error_exit, display);
+#endif
 
   g_signal_connect (display, "x11-display-closing",
                     G_CALLBACK (on_x11_display_closing), NULL);