diff --git a/glfw/ibus_glfw.c b/glfw/ibus_glfw.c
index cd01af002..0d33970fd 100644
--- a/glfw/ibus_glfw.c
+++ b/glfw/ibus_glfw.c
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ get_ibus_address_file_name(void) {
     const char *host = "unix";
     // See https://github.com/ibus/ibus/commit/8ce25208c3f4adfd290a032c6aa739d2b7580eb1 for why we need this dance.
     const char *de = getenv("WAYLAND_DISPLAY");
-    if (de) {
+    if (de && de[0]) {
         disp_num = de;
     } else {
         const char *de = getenv("DISPLAY");
diff --git a/glfw/x11_init.c b/glfw/x11_init.c
index c1b275c75..554fb1e66 100644
--- a/glfw/x11_init.c
+++ b/glfw/x11_init.c
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ _glfwPlatformInit(bool *supports_window_occlusion) {
     _glfw.x11.display = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
     if (!_glfw.x11.display) {
         const char *display = getenv("DISPLAY");
-        if (display) {
+        if (display && display[0]) {
             _glfwInputError(GLFW_PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: Failed to open display %s", display);
         } else {
             _glfwInputError(GLFW_PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing");
diff --git a/kitty/constants.py b/kitty/constants.py
index 86862874f..79c847fea 100644
--- a/kitty/constants.py
+++ b/kitty/constants.py
@@ -220,9 +220,9 @@ def glfw_path(module: str) -> str:
 
 
 def detect_if_wayland_ok() -> bool:
-    if 'WAYLAND_DISPLAY' not in os.environ and 'WAYLAND_SOCKET' not in os.environ:
+    if not os.environ.get('WAYLAND_DISPLAY') and not os.environ.get('WAYLAND_SOCKET'):
         return False
-    if 'KITTY_DISABLE_WAYLAND' in os.environ:
+    if os.environ.get('KITTY_DISABLE_WAYLAND'):
         return False
     wayland = glfw_path('wayland')
     if not os.path.exists(wayland):