diff --git a/compositor/xwayland.c b/compositor/xwayland.c
index 8eadbe25..b67176f6 100644
--- a/compositor/xwayland.c
+++ b/compositor/xwayland.c
@@ -123,14 +123,23 @@ spawn_xserver(void *user_data, const char *display, int abstract_fd, int unix_fd
 			  xserver,
 			  display,
 			  "-rootless",
+#ifdef HAVE_XWAYLAND_LISTENFD
+			  "-listenfd", abstract_fd_str,
+			  "-listenfd", unix_fd_str,
+#else
 			  "-listen", abstract_fd_str,
 			  "-listen", unix_fd_str,
+#endif
 			  "-wm", wm_fd_str,
 			  "-terminate",
 			  NULL) < 0)
 			weston_log("exec of '%s %s -rootless "
-				   "-listen %s -listen %s -wm %s "
-				   "-terminate' failed: %s\n",
+#ifdef HAVE_XWAYLAND_LISTENFD
+				   "-listenfd %s -listenfd %s "
+#else
+				   "-listen %s -listen %s "
+#endif
+				   "-wm %s -terminate' failed: %s\n",
 				   xserver, display,
 				   abstract_fd_str, unix_fd_str, wm_fd_str,
 				   strerror(errno));
diff --git a/xwayland/meson.build b/xwayland/meson.build
index 896d6314..d8482a46 100644
--- a/xwayland/meson.build
+++ b/xwayland/meson.build
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ if not get_option('xwayland')
 	subdir_done()
 endif
 
+xwayland_dep = dependency('xwayland', required: false)
+if xwayland_dep.found()
+	if xwayland_dep.get_pkgconfig_variable('have_listenfd') == 'true'
+		config_h.set('HAVE_XWAYLAND_LISTENFD', '1')
+	endif
+endif
+
 srcs_xwayland = [
 	'launcher.c',
 	'window-manager.c',