diff --git a/system/upstart.nix b/system/upstart.nix
index 29c55362b15..83d4663563a 100644
--- a/system/upstart.nix
+++ b/system/upstart.nix
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ import ../upstart-jobs/gather.nix {
     (import ../upstart-jobs/xserver.nix {
       inherit config;
       inherit (pkgs) stdenv writeText lib xterm slim xorg mesa;
-      inherit (pkgs.gnome) metacity;
+      inherit (pkgs.gnome) metacity GConf;
       fontDirectories = import ./fonts.nix {inherit pkgs;};
     })
 
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/xserver.nix b/upstart-jobs/xserver.nix
index b1743cecf93..33c42648113 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/xserver.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/xserver.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, writeText, lib, xorg, mesa, xterm, slim, metacity
+{ stdenv, writeText, lib, xorg, mesa, xterm, slim, metacity, GConf
 
 , config
 
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ let
     ${if windowManager == "twm" then "
     ${xorg.twm}/bin/twm &
     " else if windowManager == "metacity" then "
+    # !!! Hack: load the schemas for Metacity.
+    GCONF_CONFIG_SOURCE=xml::~/.gconf ${GConf}/bin/gconftool-2 --makefile-install-rule ${metacity}/etc/gconf/schemas/*.schemas
     ${metacity}/bin/metacity &
     " else abort ("unknown window manager "+ windowManager)}
     ${xterm}/bin/xterm -ls