diff --git a/nix/desktop.nix b/nix/desktop.nix
index f539ca311da17..fa76993d27c00 100644
--- a/nix/desktop.nix
+++ b/nix/desktop.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   hermesNpmLib,
   electron,
   hermesAgent,
+  python3,
   ...
 }:
 let
@@ -141,7 +142,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   dontUnpack = true;
   dontBuild = true;
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ makeWrapper ];
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    makeWrapper
+    python3
+  ];
 
   installPhase = ''
     runHook preInstall
@@ -166,6 +170,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       --set HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES "${lib.getExe hermesAgent}" \
       --set ELECTRON_IS_DEV 0
 
+    # XDG launcher entry
+    mkdir -p $out/share/applications $out/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps
+    install -m 0644 ${../apps/desktop/assets/icon.png} \
+      $out/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps/hermes.png
+    export PYTHONPATH=$(mktemp -d)
+    cp ${../hermes_cli/linux_desktop_entry.py} "$PYTHONPATH/linux_desktop_entry.py"
+    export DESKTOP_EXEC="$out/bin/hermes-desktop"
+    export DESKTOP_ICON="$out/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps/hermes.png"
+    python3 -c 'import os; from linux_desktop_entry import render_desktop_entry; print(render_desktop_entry(os.environ["DESKTOP_EXEC"], os.environ["DESKTOP_ICON"]))' > $out/share/applications/hermes.desktop
     runHook postInstall
   '';