diff --git a/common/single_top.cpp b/common/single_top.cpp
index 8f6807ead1..b50ecf18a8 100644
--- a/common/single_top.cpp
+++ b/common/single_top.cpp
@@ -135,6 +135,10 @@ struct APP_SINGLE_TOP : public wxApp
             wxSetEnv ( wxT("UBUNTU_MENUPROXY" ), wxT( "0" ) );
         }
 
+        // Force the use of X11 backend (or wayland-x11 compatibilty layer).  This is required until wxWidgets
+        // supports the Wayland compositors
+        wxSetEnv( wxT( "GDK_BACKEND" ), wxT( "x11" ) );
+
         // Disable overlay scrollbars as they mess up wxWidgets window sizing and cause excessive redraw requests
         wxSetEnv( wxT( "GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING" ), wxT( "0" ) );
 
diff --git a/kicad/kicad.cpp b/kicad/kicad.cpp
index ae6e5cda58..c5b9c2350e 100644
--- a/kicad/kicad.cpp
+++ b/kicad/kicad.cpp
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ struct APP_KICAD : public wxApp
             wxSetEnv ( wxT("UBUNTU_MENUPROXY" ), wxT( "0" ) );
         }
 
+        // Force the use of X11 backend (or wayland-x11 compatibilty layer).  This is required until wxWidgets
+        // supports the Wayland compositors
+        wxSetEnv( wxT( "GDK_BACKEND" ), wxT( "x11" ) );
+
         // Disable overlay scrollbars as they mess up wxWidgets window sizing and cause excessive redraw requests
         wxSetEnv( wxT( "GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING" ), wxT( "0" ) );