diff --git a/src-tauri/src/app.rs b/src-tauri/src/app.rs
index 7b53eea..0ca865e 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/app.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/app.rs
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ async fn setup(app: &mut App) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
         setup_errors.push("Failed to register hotkeys. Hotkey settings have been disabled.".into());
     }
 
+    let desktop_is_gnome = std::env::var("XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP")
+        .map(|names| names.split(':').any(|n| n == "GNOME"))
+        .unwrap_or(false);
+
     // if session is empty, this is probably the first launch, so don't autohide
     if !conf.start_minimized || is_first_launch {
         app.get_window("main")
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@ async fn setup(app: &mut App) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
             .show()?;
     }
 
-    let state = AppState::new(conf, session, pool, setup_errors);
+    let state = AppState::new(conf, session, pool, setup_errors, desktop_is_gnome);
     app.manage(state);
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/state.rs b/src-tauri/src/state.rs
index cd30af1..e6af889 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/state.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/state.rs
@@ -39,13 +39,22 @@ impl Visibility {
             .ok_or(WindowError::NoMainWindow)?;
 
         self.leases += 1;
+        // `original` represents the visibility of the window before any leases were acquired
+        // None means we don't know, Some(false) means it was previously hidden,
+        // Some(true) means it was previously visible
         if self.original.is_none() {
             let is_visible = window.is_visible()?;
             self.original = Some(is_visible);
-            if !is_visible {
-                window.show()?;
-            }
         }
+
+        let state = app.state::<AppState>();
+        if matches!(self.original, Some(true)) && state.desktop_is_gnome {
+            // Gnome has a really annoying "focus-stealing prevention" behavior means we
+            // can't just pop up when the window is already visible, so to work around it
+            // we hide and then immediately unhide the window
+            window.hide()?;
+        }
+        window.show()?;
         window.set_focus()?;
 
         let (tx, rx) = oneshot::channel();
@@ -95,8 +104,9 @@ pub struct AppState {
     pub request_count: RwLock<u64>,
     pub waiting_requests: RwLock<HashMap<u64, Sender<Approval>>>,
     pub pending_terminal_request: RwLock<bool>,
-    // setup_errors is never modified and so doesn't need to be wrapped in RwLock
+    // these are never modified and so don't need to be wrapped in RwLocks
     pub setup_errors: Vec<String>,
+    pub desktop_is_gnome: bool,
     pool: sqlx::SqlitePool,
     visibility: RwLock<Visibility>,
 }
@@ -107,6 +117,7 @@ impl AppState {
         session: Session,
         pool: SqlitePool,
         setup_errors: Vec<String>,
+        desktop_is_gnome: bool,
     ) -> AppState {
         AppState {
             config: RwLock::new(config),
@@ -115,6 +126,7 @@ impl AppState {
             waiting_requests: RwLock::new(HashMap::new()),
             pending_terminal_request: RwLock::new(false),
             setup_errors,
+            desktop_is_gnome,
             pool,
             visibility: RwLock::new(Visibility::new()),
         }