diff --git a/hostinfo/hostinfo.go b/hostinfo/hostinfo.go
index 50ce6c8966b57..e56eb69a1c77a 100644
--- a/hostinfo/hostinfo.go
+++ b/hostinfo/hostinfo.go
@@ -17,11 +17,14 @@ import (
 
 	"go4.org/mem"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
+	"tailscale.com/types/opt"
 	"tailscale.com/util/dnsname"
 	"tailscale.com/util/lineread"
 	"tailscale.com/version"
 )
 
+var started = time.Now()
+
 // New returns a partially populated Hostinfo for the current host.
 func New() *tailcfg.Hostinfo {
 	hostname, _ := os.Hostname()
@@ -31,6 +34,7 @@ func New() *tailcfg.Hostinfo {
 		Hostname:    hostname,
 		OS:          version.OS(),
 		OSVersion:   GetOSVersion(),
+		Desktop:     desktop(),
 		Package:     packageTypeCached(),
 		GoArch:      runtime.GOARCH,
 		DeviceModel: deviceModel(),
@@ -97,6 +101,7 @@ func GetEnvType() EnvType {
 var (
 	deviceModelAtomic atomic.Value // of string
 	osVersionAtomic   atomic.Value // of string
+	desktopAtomic     atomic.Value // of opt.Bool
 	packagingType     atomic.Value // of string
 )
 
@@ -106,6 +111,9 @@ func SetDeviceModel(model string) { deviceModelAtomic.Store(model) }
 // SetOSVersion sets the OS version.
 func SetOSVersion(v string) { osVersionAtomic.Store(v) }
 
+// SetDesktop sets the desktop for use in HostInfo updates.
+func SetDesktop(d opt.Bool) { desktopAtomic.Store(d) }
+
 // SetPackage sets the packaging type for the app.
 //
 // As of 2022-03-25, this is used by Android ("nogoogle" for the
@@ -117,6 +125,31 @@ func deviceModel() string {
 	return s
 }
 
+func desktop() (ret opt.Bool) {
+	if runtime.GOOS != "linux" {
+		return opt.Bool("")
+	}
+	if v := desktopAtomic.Load(); v != nil {
+		v, _ := v.(opt.Bool)
+		return v
+	}
+
+	seenDesktop := false
+	lineread.File("/proc/net/unix", func(line []byte) error {
+		seenDesktop = seenDesktop || strings.Contains(string(line), " @/tmp/dbus-")
+		seenDesktop = seenDesktop || strings.Contains(string(line), ".X11-unix")
+		seenDesktop = seenDesktop || strings.Contains(string(line), "/wayland-1")
+		return nil
+	})
+	ret.Set(seenDesktop)
+
+	// Only cache after a minute - compositors might not have started yet.
+	if time.Now().After(started.Add(time.Minute)) {
+		desktopAtomic.Store(ret)
+	}
+	return ret
+}
+
 func getEnvType() EnvType {
 	if inKnative() {
 		return KNative
diff --git a/tailcfg/tailcfg.go b/tailcfg/tailcfg.go
index c6b556d69278f..b2b64d0991715 100644
--- a/tailcfg/tailcfg.go
+++ b/tailcfg/tailcfg.go
@@ -460,6 +460,7 @@ type Hostinfo struct {
 	BackendLogID  string             `json:",omitempty"` // logtail ID of backend instance
 	OS            string             `json:",omitempty"` // operating system the client runs on (a version.OS value)
 	OSVersion     string             `json:",omitempty"` // operating system version, with optional distro prefix ("Debian 10.4", "Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19041")
+	Desktop       opt.Bool           `json:",omitempty"` // if a desktop was detected on Linux
 	Package       string             `json:",omitempty"` // Tailscale package to disambiguate ("choco", "appstore", etc; "" for unknown)
 	DeviceModel   string             `json:",omitempty"` // mobile phone model ("Pixel 3a", "iPhone12,3")
 	Hostname      string             `json:",omitempty"` // name of the host the client runs on
diff --git a/tailcfg/tailcfg_clone.go b/tailcfg/tailcfg_clone.go
index b1a3572ba4104..c94e8d5b4bee5 100644
--- a/tailcfg/tailcfg_clone.go
+++ b/tailcfg/tailcfg_clone.go
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ var _HostinfoCloneNeedsRegeneration = Hostinfo(struct {
 	BackendLogID  string
 	OS            string
 	OSVersion     string
+	Desktop       opt.Bool
 	Package       string
 	DeviceModel   string
 	Hostname      string
diff --git a/tailcfg/tailcfg_test.go b/tailcfg/tailcfg_test.go
index 6d580064b8981..e5135a407a086 100644
--- a/tailcfg/tailcfg_test.go
+++ b/tailcfg/tailcfg_test.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func fieldsOf(t reflect.Type) (fields []string) {
 func TestHostinfoEqual(t *testing.T) {
 	hiHandles := []string{
 		"IPNVersion", "FrontendLogID", "BackendLogID",
-		"OS", "OSVersion", "Package", "DeviceModel", "Hostname",
+		"OS", "OSVersion", "Desktop", "Package", "DeviceModel", "Hostname",
 		"ShieldsUp", "ShareeNode",
 		"GoArch",
 		"RoutableIPs", "RequestTags",