diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index b70cae258..cc7dac1c4 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -58,9 +58,6 @@ running: bool = true,
 pub fn init(core_app: *CoreApp, opts: Options) !App {
     _ = opts;
 
-    // Initialize libadwaita
-    if (build_options.libadwaita) c.adw_init();
-
     // Load our configuration
     var config = try Config.load(core_app.alloc);
     errdefer config.deinit();
@@ -72,8 +69,10 @@ pub fn init(core_app: *CoreApp, opts: Options) !App {
         }
     }
 
-    // Set the style based on our configuration file
-    if (build_options.libadwaita) {
+    // Initialize libadwaita
+    if (build_options.libadwaita and config.@"gtk-adwaita") {
+        log.debug("initializing libadwaita", .{});
+        c.adw_init();
         c.adw_style_manager_set_color_scheme(
             c.adw_style_manager_get_default(),
             switch (config.@"window-theme") {
diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index 5b84414f3..82e09eb66 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -626,6 +626,20 @@ keybind: Keybinds = .{},
 /// which is the old style.
 @"gtk-wide-tabs": bool = true,
 
+/// If true (default), Ghostty will enable libadwaita theme support. This
+/// will make `window-theme` work properly and will also allow Ghostty to
+/// properly respond to system theme changes, light/dark mode changing, etc.
+/// This requires a GTK4 desktop with a GTK4 theme.
+///
+/// If you are running GTK3 or have a GTK3 theme, you may have to set this
+/// to false to get your theme picked up properly. Having this set to true
+/// with GTK3 should not cause any problems, but it may not work exactly as
+/// expected.
+///
+/// This configuration only has an effect if Ghostty was built with
+/// libadwaita support.
+@"gtk-adwaita": bool = true,
+
 /// This will be used to set the TERM environment variable.
 /// HACK: We set this with an "xterm" prefix because vim uses that to enable key
 /// protocols (specifically this will enable 'modifyOtherKeys'), among other