diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh
index 2745c82ce6..e48db82095 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$APPDIR/usr/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
+
+# use system wayland if available otherwise use the appimage provided wayland
+if [[ $(ldconfig -p | grep libwayland-client | wc -l) -lt 1 ]]; then
+        export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$APPDIR/usr/lib/wayland:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
+fi
+
 export BINARY_NAME=$(basename "$ARGV0")
 if [[ ! -e "$PWD/$BINARY_NAME.config" ]]; then
         mkdir "$PWD/$BINARY_NAME.config"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/appimage.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/appimage.sh
index 41f7991391..db68e62552 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/appimage.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/linux/appimage.sh
@@ -49,8 +49,14 @@ cp --dereference /lib/"$LIBARCH"/libgcc_s.so.1 "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root
 chmod +x .github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh
 cp .github/workflows/scripts/linux/app-variables.sh "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/apprun-hooks
 export UPD_INFO="gh-releases-zsync|PCSX2|pcsx2|latest|$name.AppImage.zsync"
-export OUTPUT="$name.AppImage"
-/tmp/squashfs-root/AppRun --appdir="$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/ --plugin gtk -d "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/PCSX2.desktop -i "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/PCSX2.png --output appimage
+/tmp/squashfs-root/AppRun --appdir="$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/ --plugin gtk -d "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/PCSX2.desktop -i "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root/PCSX2.png
+# see LD_LIBRARY_PATH in app-variables.sh - the intent is to use system wayland if available but fall back to app-image provided
+# a little bit hacky but should ensure maximum compatibility
+mkdir -p squashfs-root/usr/lib/wayland
+mv squashfs-root/usr/lib/libwayland-* squashfs-root/usr/lib/wayland
+curl -sSfL "https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-$ARCH.AppImage" -o ./appimagetool-"$ARCH".AppImage
+chmod a+x appimagetool*.AppImage
+./appimagetool-"$ARCH".AppImage "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/squashfs-root "$name.AppImage"
 mkdir -p "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/ci-artifacts/
 ls -al .
 mv "$name.AppImage" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/ci-artifacts # && mv "$name.AppImage.zsync" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/ci-artifacts