diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/default.nix
index 140feb164b1..32083d3ada6 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/default.nix
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       inherit numlockx;
     })
     ./01-sysconfdir-install.patch
+    ./hardcode-theme.patch
   ];
 
   mesonFlags = [
@@ -70,9 +71,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   preFixup = ''
     gappsWrapperArgs+=(
-      # GTK+ reads default settings (such as icons and themes) from elementary's settings.ini here
-      --prefix XDG_CONFIG_DIRS : "${elementary-default-settings}/etc"
-
       # dbus-launch needed in path
       --prefix PATH : "${dbus}/bin"
 
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/hardcode-theme.patch b/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/hardcode-theme.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e9263aab736
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/pantheon/desktop/elementary-greeter/hardcode-theme.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+diff --git a/src/PantheonGreeter.vala b/src/PantheonGreeter.vala
+index 11aa4c0..daf4a8a 100644
+--- a/src/PantheonGreeter.vala
++++ b/src/PantheonGreeter.vala
+@@ -474,6 +474,10 @@ public static int main (string [] args) {
+                                              Gdk.CursorType.LEFT_PTR);
+     Gdk.get_default_root_window ().set_cursor (cursor);
+ 
++    var settings = Gtk.Settings.get_default ();
++    settings.gtk_icon_theme_name = "elementary";
++    settings.gtk_theme_name = "elementary";
++
+     var icon_theme = Gtk.IconTheme.get_default ();
+     icon_theme.add_resource_path ("/io/elementary/greeter/icons");
+