diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index 99c7c1e8..41be68a9 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -374,16 +374,19 @@ main(int argc, char *const *argv)
         const char *xdg_runtime = getenv("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR");
         if (xdg_runtime != NULL) {
             const char *wayland_display = getenv("WAYLAND_DISPLAY");
-            if (wayland_display != NULL)
+            if (wayland_display != NULL) {
                 snprintf(addr.sun_path, sizeof(addr.sun_path),
                          "%s/foot-%s.sock", xdg_runtime, wayland_display);
-            else
+                connected = (connect(fd, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr)) == 0);
+            }
+            if (!connected) {
+                LOG_WARN("%s: failed to connect, will now try %s/foot.sock",
+                         addr.sun_path, xdg_runtime);
                 snprintf(addr.sun_path, sizeof(addr.sun_path),
                          "%s/foot.sock", xdg_runtime);
-
-            if (connect(fd, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr)) == 0)
-                connected = true;
-            else
+                connected = (connect(fd, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr)) == 0);
+            }
+            if (!connected)
                 LOG_WARN("%s: failed to connect, will now try /tmp/foot.sock", addr.sun_path);
         }
 
diff --git a/doc/footclient.1.scd b/doc/footclient.1.scd
index 1464700c..7d89b9ed 100644
--- a/doc/footclient.1.scd
+++ b/doc/footclient.1.scd
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ terminfo entries manually, by copying *foot* and *foot-direct* to
 	Used to construct the default _PATH_ for the *--server-socket*
 	option, when no explicit argument is given (see above).
 
+If the socket at default _PATH_ does not exist, *footclient* will
+fallback to the less specific path, with the following priority:
+*$XDG\_RUNTIME\_DIR/foot-$WAYLAND\_DISPLAY.sock*,
+*$XDG\_RUNTIME\_DIR/foot.sock*, */tmp/foot.sock*.
+
 ## Variables set in the child process
 
 *TERM*