diff --git a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
index efc09ede9..53b6dce88 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -256,9 +256,8 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject,
         // Setup signal handlers
         setupSignals()
         
-        // This is a hack used by our build scripts, specifically `zig build run`,
-        // to force our app to the foreground.
-        if ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["GHOSTTY_MAC_ACTIVATE"] == "1" {
+        // If we launched via zig run then we need to force foreground.
+        if Ghostty.launchSource == .zig_run {
             // This never gets called until we click the dock icon. This forces it
             // activate immediately.
             applicationDidBecomeActive(.init(name: NSApplication.didBecomeActiveNotification))
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Package.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Package.swift
index 125a09825..e96f555d3 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Package.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Package.swift
@@ -48,6 +48,26 @@ extension Ghostty {
     }
 }
 
+// MARK: General Helpers
+
+extension Ghostty {
+    enum LaunchSource: String {
+        case cli
+        case app
+        case zig_run
+    }
+    
+    /// Returns the mechanism that launched the app. This is based on an env var so
+    /// its up to the env var being set in the correct circumstance.
+    static var launchSource: LaunchSource {
+        guard let envValue = ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["GHOSTTY_MAC_LAUNCH_SOURCE"] else {
+            return .app
+        }
+        
+        return LaunchSource(rawValue: envValue) ?? .app
+    }
+}
+
 // MARK: Swift Types for C Types
 
 extension Ghostty {
diff --git a/src/build/GhosttyXcodebuild.zig b/src/build/GhosttyXcodebuild.zig
index 9b472eda8..052c9f3e4 100644
--- a/src/build/GhosttyXcodebuild.zig
+++ b/src/build/GhosttyXcodebuild.zig
@@ -88,6 +88,19 @@ pub fn init(
 
     // Our step to open the resulting Ghostty app.
     const open = open: {
+        const disable_save_state = RunStep.create(b, "disable save state");
+        disable_save_state.has_side_effects = true;
+        disable_save_state.addArgs(&.{
+            "/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy",
+            "-c",
+            // We'll have to change this to `Set` if we ever put this
+            // into our Info.plist.
+            "Add :NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows bool false",
+            b.fmt("{s}/Contents/Info.plist", .{app_path}),
+        });
+        disable_save_state.expectExitCode(0);
+        disable_save_state.step.dependOn(&build.step);
+
         const open = RunStep.create(b, "run Ghostty app");
         open.has_side_effects = true;
         open.cwd = b.path("");
@@ -98,15 +111,14 @@ pub fn init(
 
         // Open depends on the app
         open.step.dependOn(&build.step);
+        open.step.dependOn(&disable_save_state.step);
 
         // This overrides our default behavior and forces logs to show
         // up on stderr (in addition to the centralized macOS log).
         open.setEnvironmentVariable("GHOSTTY_LOG", "1");
 
-        // This is hack so that we can activate the app and bring it to
-        // the front forcibly even though we're executing directly
-        // via the binary and not launch services.
-        open.setEnvironmentVariable("GHOSTTY_MAC_ACTIVATE", "1");
+        // Configure how we're launching
+        open.setEnvironmentVariable("GHOSTTY_MAC_LAUNCH_SOURCE", "zig_run");
 
         if (b.args) |args| {
             open.addArgs(args);