diff --git a/src/backends/meta-cursor-sprite-xcursor.c b/src/backends/meta-cursor-sprite-xcursor.c
index f76458251..c6d0eb46d 100644
--- a/src/backends/meta-cursor-sprite-xcursor.c
+++ b/src/backends/meta-cursor-sprite-xcursor.c
@@ -173,16 +173,18 @@ load_cursor_on_client (MetaCursor cursor,
 {
   XcursorImages *xcursor_images;
   int fallback_size, i;
-  /* Set a 'default' fallback */
-  MetaCursor cursors[] = { cursor, META_CURSOR_DEFAULT };
+  const char *cursor_names[2];
 
   if (cursor == META_CURSOR_BLANK)
     return create_blank_cursor_images ();
 
-  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (cursors); i++)
+  cursor_names[0] = meta_cursor_get_name (cursor);
+  cursor_names[1] = meta_cursor_get_legacy_name (cursor);
+
+  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (cursor_names); i++)
     {
       xcursor_images =
-        XcursorLibraryLoadImages (meta_cursor_get_name (cursors[i]),
+        XcursorLibraryLoadImages (cursor_names[i],
                                   meta_prefs_get_cursor_theme (),
                                   meta_prefs_get_cursor_size () * scale);
       if (xcursor_images)
diff --git a/src/backends/x11/meta-cursor-renderer-x11.c b/src/backends/x11/meta-cursor-renderer-x11.c
index a5816174b..24253467d 100644
--- a/src/backends/x11/meta-cursor-renderer-x11.c
+++ b/src/backends/x11/meta-cursor-renderer-x11.c
@@ -71,10 +71,16 @@ static Cursor
 create_x_cursor (Display    *xdisplay,
                  MetaCursor  cursor)
 {
+  Cursor result;
+
   if (cursor == META_CURSOR_BLANK)
     return create_blank_cursor (xdisplay);
 
-  return XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (xdisplay, meta_cursor_get_name (cursor));
+  result = XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (xdisplay, meta_cursor_get_name (cursor));
+  if (!result)
+    result = XcursorLibraryLoadCursor (xdisplay, meta_cursor_get_legacy_name (cursor));
+
+  return result;
 }
 
 static gboolean