diff --git a/gtk/gtkapplication-dbus.c b/gtk/gtkapplication-dbus.c
index dc141cfa5f..a270354119 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkapplication-dbus.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkapplication-dbus.c
@@ -329,8 +329,31 @@ gtk_application_impl_dbus_startup (GtkApplicationImpl *impl,
 
   if (dbus->ss_proxy)
     {
+      GVariant *active_var;
+      gboolean active;
+
       g_signal_connect (dbus->ss_proxy, "g-signal",
                         G_CALLBACK (screensaver_signal_session), impl->application);
+
+      active_var = g_dbus_proxy_call_sync (dbus->ss_proxy,
+                                           "GetActive",
+                                           NULL,
+                                           G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
+                                           G_MAXINT,
+                                           NULL,
+                                           &error);
+      if (!active_var)
+        {
+          g_debug ("Error calling GetActive on GNOME screensaver: %s",
+                   error->message);
+          g_clear_error (&error);
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          g_variant_get (active_var, "(b)", &active);
+          g_variant_unref (active_var);
+          gtk_application_set_screensaver_active (dbus->impl.application, active);
+        }
     }
 
   g_debug ("Registering client '%s' '%s'", dbus->application_id, client_id);