diff --git a/defaults/etc/greetd/niri-greeter.kdl b/defaults/etc/greetd/niri-greeter.kdl
index fa8b9c9..ad662bd 100644
--- a/defaults/etc/greetd/niri-greeter.kdl
+++ b/defaults/etc/greetd/niri-greeter.kdl
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ layout {
     }
 }
 
+// Greeter needs no portal services — prevent GTK from triggering
+// xdg-desktop-portal activation (which fails without a proper display).
+environment {
+    "GTK_USE_PORTAL" "0"
+}
+
 // Start moongreet and quit niri once moongreet exits.
 // Retry loop ensures niri shuts down even on early moongreet crashes.
 spawn-sh-at-startup "moongreet; while ! niri msg action quit --skip-confirmation 2>/dev/null; do sleep 0.5; done"