diff --git a/modules/desktop/desktop-entries.nix b/modules/desktop/desktop-entries.nix
index 1db26e5..ef8f253 100644
--- a/modules/desktop/desktop-entries.nix
+++ b/modules/desktop/desktop-entries.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ let
     name = "com.mitchellh.ghostty";
     desktopName = "Terminal";
     genericName = "Terminal Emulator";
-    exec = "ghostty";
+    exec = "ghostty-cairo";
     icon = "com.mitchellh.ghostty";
     categories = [
       "System"
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ let
       "Utility"
     ];
     terminal = false;
-    comment = "Fast GPU-accelerated terminal";
+    comment = "Terminal (Cairo renderer fallback)";
   };
 in
 {
diff --git a/modules/desktop/gnome-minimal.nix b/modules/desktop/gnome-minimal.nix
index 5c9e9ea..4825909 100644
--- a/modules/desktop/gnome-minimal.nix
+++ b/modules/desktop/gnome-minimal.nix
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ in
 
           "org/gnome/shell/extensions/logo-menu" = {
             menu-button-icon-image = lib.gvariant.mkInt32 51;
-            menu-button-terminal = "ghostty";
+            menu-button-terminal = "ghostty-cairo";
             menu-button-system-monitor = "missioncenter";
             menu-button-extensions-app = "com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager.desktop";
             hide-softwarecentre = true;
diff --git a/modules/system/packages.nix b/modules/system/packages.nix
index e738730..00a38be 100644
--- a/modules/system/packages.nix
+++ b/modules/system/packages.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 { lib, pkgs, ... }:
 
+let
+  ghosttyCairo = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "ghostty-cairo" ''
+    export GSK_RENDERER=cairo
+    exec ghostty "$@"
+  '';
+in
 {
   # Baseline system tools available everywhere; users run Home Manager standalone.
   config.environment.systemPackages = lib.mkAfter [
@@ -11,6 +17,7 @@
     pkgs.fastfetch
     pkgs.flatpak
     pkgs.ghostty
+    ghosttyCairo
     pkgs.git
     pkgs.home-manager
     pkgs.just
diff --git a/modules/system/shell.nix b/modules/system/shell.nix
index 86e7b49..da80556 100644
--- a/modules/system/shell.nix
+++ b/modules/system/shell.nix
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ in
   ];
 
   # Use Ghostty as the default terminal emulator.
+  # On some machines Ghostty may fail to acquire an OpenGL context; `ghostty-cairo`
+  # forces GTK4's Cairo renderer (CPU) and is more hardware-agnostic.
   environment.sessionVariables = {
-    TERMINAL = "${pkgs.ghostty}/bin/ghostty";
-    DEFAULT_TERMINAL = "${pkgs.ghostty}/bin/ghostty";
+    TERMINAL = "ghostty-cairo";
+    DEFAULT_TERMINAL = "ghostty-cairo";
   };
 
   programs.bash = {
diff --git a/templates/home-home.nix b/templates/home-home.nix
index e59fd49..9f78f5e 100644
--- a/templates/home-home.nix
+++ b/templates/home-home.nix
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
 
       [no-cd]
       switch:
-home-manager switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#$USER
+          home-manager switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#$USER
 
       [no-cd]
       rebuild:
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ home-manager switch --flake ~/.config/home-manager#$USER
 
   home.sessionVariables = {
     # you can change the default terminal and editor here
-    TERMINAL = "${pkgs.ghostty}/bin/ghostty";
-    DEFAULT_TERMINAL = "${pkgs.ghostty}/bin/ghostty";
+    TERMINAL = "ghostty-cairo";
+    DEFAULT_TERMINAL = "ghostty-cairo";
     EDITOR = "micro";
     DBX_CONTAINER_HOME_PREFIX = "$HOME/distrobox";
   };