diff --git a/docs/labwc-config.5.scd b/docs/labwc-config.5.scd
index aff0e62a..d9f939fa 100644
--- a/docs/labwc-config.5.scd
+++ b/docs/labwc-config.5.scd
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ this is for compatibility with Openbox.
   <adaptiveSync>no</adaptiveSync>
   <allowTearing>no</allowTearing>
   <reuseOutputMode>no</reuseOutputMode>
-  <xwaylandPersistence>no</xwaylandPersistence>
+  <xwaylandPersistence>yes</xwaylandPersistence>
 </core>
 ```
 
@@ -219,7 +219,13 @@ this is for compatibility with Openbox.
 *<core><xwaylandPersistence>* [yes|no]
 	Keep XWayland alive even when no clients are connected, rather than
 	using a "lazy" policy that allows the server to launch on demand and die
-	when it is no longer needed. Default is no.
+	when it is no longer needed. Default is yes.
+
+	This is only temporarily defaulting to yes to avoid a bug that is
+	present in wlroots <0.18.2 resulting in a compositor crash when
+	performing a drag-and-drop action at the same time as the XWayland
+	server is shutting down. This will be reverted to a default "no" when
+	wlroots-0.18.2 can be linked with.
 
 	Note: changing this setting requires a restart of labwc.
 
diff --git a/docs/rc.xml.all b/docs/rc.xml.all
index ae66fe4c..aa24838c 100644
--- a/docs/rc.xml.all
+++ b/docs/rc.xml.all
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     <adaptiveSync>no</adaptiveSync>
     <allowTearing>no</allowTearing>
     <reuseOutputMode>no</reuseOutputMode>
-    <xwaylandPersistence>no</xwaylandPersistence>
+    <xwaylandPersistence>yes</xwaylandPersistence>
   </core>
 
   <placement>
diff --git a/src/config/rcxml.c b/src/config/rcxml.c
index cb064fc0..a8cb9d3b 100644
--- a/src/config/rcxml.c
+++ b/src/config/rcxml.c
@@ -1088,6 +1088,17 @@ entry(xmlNode *node, char *nodename, char *content)
 		}
 	} else if (!strcasecmp(nodename, "xwaylandPersistence.core")) {
 		set_bool(content, &rc.xwayland_persistence);
+
+		/*
+		 * TODO: Temporary warning message. Revert when wlroots-0.18.2
+		 * can be linked with.
+		 */
+		if (!rc.xwayland_persistence) {
+			wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "setting xwaylandPersistence to 'no' "
+				"is not encouraged unless wlroots-0.18.2 is used "
+				"since it has a potential risk of crashing the "
+				"entire session. See #2371 for details.");
+		}
 	} else if (!strcasecmp(nodename, "x.cascadeOffset.placement")) {
 		rc.placement_cascade_offset_x = atoi(content);
 	} else if (!strcasecmp(nodename, "y.cascadeOffset.placement")) {
@@ -1452,7 +1463,7 @@ rcxml_init(void)
 	rc.adaptive_sync = LAB_ADAPTIVE_SYNC_DISABLED;
 	rc.allow_tearing = false;
 	rc.reuse_output_mode = false;
-	rc.xwayland_persistence = false;
+	rc.xwayland_persistence = true;
 
 	init_font_defaults(&rc.font_activewindow);
 	init_font_defaults(&rc.font_inactivewindow);