diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index 8210a448d..80749437f 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -392,10 +392,8 @@ fn loadRuntimeCss(config: *const Config, provider: *c.GtkCssProvider) !void {
     const fmt =
         \\widget.unfocused-split {{
         \\ opacity: {d:.2};
-        \\}}
-        \\.ghostty-surface>stack {{
         \\ background-color: rgb({d},{d},{d});
-        \\}}"
+        \\}}
     ;
     // The length required is always less than the length of the pre-formatted string:
     // -> '{d:.2}' gets replaced with max 4 bytes (0.00)
@@ -413,7 +411,7 @@ fn loadRuntimeCss(config: *const Config, provider: *c.GtkCssProvider) !void {
         },
     );
     // Clears any previously loaded CSS from this provider
-    c.gtk_css_provider_load_from_string(provider, css);
+    c.gtk_css_provider_load_from_data(provider, css, @intCast(css.len));
 }
 
 /// Called by CoreApp to wake up the event loop.
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
index d9b60bb39..f370a05a8 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
@@ -325,6 +325,9 @@ gl_area: *c.GtkGLArea,
 /// If non-null this is the widget on the overlay that shows the URL.
 url_widget: ?URLWidget = null,
 
+/// If non-null this is the widget on the overlay which dims the surface when it is unfocused
+unfocused_widget: ?*c.GtkWidget = null,
+
 /// Any active cursor we may have
 cursor: ?*c.GdkCursor = null,
 
@@ -590,6 +593,10 @@ pub fn deinit(self: *Surface) void {
     // Free all our GTK stuff
     c.g_object_unref(self.im_context);
     if (self.cursor) |cursor| c.g_object_unref(cursor);
+    if (self.unfocused_widget) |widget| {
+        c.gtk_overlay_remove_overlay(self.overlay, widget);
+        self.unfocused_widget = null;
+    }
 }
 
 // unref removes the long-held reference to the gl_area and kicks off the
@@ -1809,8 +1816,11 @@ fn gtkFocusEnter(_: *c.GtkEventControllerFocus, ud: ?*anyopaque) callconv(.C) vo
     // Notify our IM context
     c.gtk_im_context_focus_in(self.im_context);
 
-    // Unconditionally remove the unfocused split css class
-    c.gtk_widget_remove_css_class(@ptrCast(@alignCast(self.gl_area)), "unfocused-split");
+    // Remove the unfocused widget overlay, if we have one
+    if (self.unfocused_widget) |widget| {
+        c.gtk_overlay_remove_overlay(self.overlay, widget);
+        self.unfocused_widget = null;
+    }
 
     // Notify our surface
     self.core_surface.focusCallback(true) catch |err| {
@@ -1826,11 +1836,16 @@ fn gtkFocusLeave(_: *c.GtkEventControllerFocus, ud: ?*anyopaque) callconv(.C) vo
     // Notify our IM context
     c.gtk_im_context_focus_out(self.im_context);
 
-    // We only add the unfocused-split class if we are actually a split
+    // We only add the unfocused-split widget if we are actually a split
     switch (self.container) {
         .split_br,
         .split_tl,
-        => c.gtk_widget_add_css_class(@ptrCast(@alignCast(self.gl_area)), "unfocused-split"),
+        => blk: {
+            if (self.unfocused_widget != null) break :blk;
+            self.unfocused_widget = c.gtk_drawing_area_new();
+            c.gtk_widget_add_css_class(self.unfocused_widget.?, "unfocused-split");
+            c.gtk_overlay_add_overlay(self.overlay, self.unfocused_widget.?);
+        },
         else => {},
     }