diff --git a/calmwm.c b/calmwm.c
index d95c206..3601d6c 100644
--- a/calmwm.c
+++ b/calmwm.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	const char	*conf_file = NULL;
 	char		*conf_path, *display_name = NULL;
+	char		*fallback;
 	int		 ch, xfd;
 	struct pollfd	 pfd[1];
 	struct passwd	*pw;
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		warnx("no locale support");
 	mbtowc(NULL, NULL, MB_CUR_MAX);
 
+	fallback = u_argv(argv);
 	Conf.wm_argv = u_argv(argv);
 	while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "c:d:")) != -1) {
 		switch (ch) {
@@ -132,6 +134,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (cwm_status == CWM_EXEC_WM)
 		u_exec(Conf.wm_argv);
 
+	warnx("'%s' failed to start, restarting fallback", Conf.wm_argv);
+	u_exec(fallback);
+
 	return(0);
 }
 
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index 95e5ba8..450f97f 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ u_exec(char *argstr)
 
 	(void)setsid();
 	(void)execvp(args[0], args);
-	err(1, "%s", s);
+	warn("%s", s);
 }
 
 char *