diff --git a/common/flatpak-run.c b/common/flatpak-run.c
index 28ad57093..141a1cd3d 100644
--- a/common/flatpak-run.c
+++ b/common/flatpak-run.c
@@ -308,7 +308,10 @@ flatpak_run_add_wayland_args (FlatpakBwrap *bwrap)
   if (!wayland_display)
     wayland_display = "wayland-0";
 
-  wayland_socket = g_build_filename (user_runtime_dir, wayland_display, NULL);
+  if (wayland_display[0] == '/')
+    wayland_socket = g_strdup (wayland_display);
+  else
+    wayland_socket = g_build_filename (user_runtime_dir, wayland_display, NULL);
 
   if (!g_str_has_prefix (wayland_display, "wayland-") ||
       strchr (wayland_display, '/') != NULL)