diff --git a/include/config/rcxml.h b/include/config/rcxml.h
index a6f1a7d7..aa950234 100644
--- a/include/config/rcxml.h
+++ b/include/config/rcxml.h
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ struct rcxml {
 	bool mag_filter;
 };
 
+/* defined in main.c */
 extern struct rcxml rc;
 
 void rcxml_read(const char *filename);
diff --git a/include/labwc.h b/include/labwc.h
index 728deaf9..513be15a 100644
--- a/include/labwc.h
+++ b/include/labwc.h
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ struct server {
 	pid_t primary_client_pid;
 };
 
+/* defined in main.c */
+extern struct server g_server;
+
 void xdg_popup_create(struct view *view, struct wlr_xdg_popup *wlr_popup);
 void xdg_shell_init(struct server *server);
 void xdg_shell_finish(struct server *server);
diff --git a/src/config/session.c b/src/config/session.c
index 515b6803..1c2f6cb7 100644
--- a/src/config/session.c
+++ b/src/config/session.c
@@ -187,8 +187,6 @@ backend_check_drm(struct wlr_backend *backend, void *is_drm)
 static bool
 should_update_activation(struct server *server)
 {
-	assert(server);
-
 	static const char *act_env = "LABWC_UPDATE_ACTIVATION_ENV";
 	char *env = getenv(act_env);
 	if (env) {
diff --git a/src/input/keyboard.c b/src/input/keyboard.c
index 0171dcd0..ec13f3f8 100644
--- a/src/input/keyboard.c
+++ b/src/input/keyboard.c
@@ -483,11 +483,10 @@ static enum lab_key_handled
 handle_compositor_keybindings(struct keyboard *keyboard,
 		struct wlr_keyboard_key_event *event)
 {
-	struct seat *seat = keyboard->base.seat;
-	struct server *server = seat->server;
+	struct server *server = &g_server;
 	struct wlr_keyboard *wlr_keyboard = keyboard->wlr_keyboard;
 	struct keyinfo keyinfo = get_keyinfo(wlr_keyboard, event->keycode);
-	bool locked = seat->server->session_lock_manager->locked;
+	bool locked = server->session_lock_manager->locked;
 
 	key_state_set_pressed(event->keycode,
 		event->state == WL_KEYBOARD_KEY_STATE_PRESSED);
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 755a0a0c..2ffc68b7 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -14,7 +14,16 @@
 #include "translate.h"
 #include "menu/menu.h"
 
+/*
+ * Globals
+ *
+ * Rationale: these are unlikely to ever have more than one instance
+ * per process, and need to last for the lifetime of the process.
+ * Accessing them indirectly through pointers embedded in every other
+ * struct just adds noise to the code.
+ */
 struct rcxml rc = { 0 };
+struct server g_server = { 0 };
 
 static const struct option long_options[] = {
 	{"config", required_argument, NULL, 'c'},
@@ -246,35 +255,35 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	increase_nofile_limit();
 
-	struct server server = { 0 };
-	server_init(&server);
-	server_start(&server);
+	struct server *server = &g_server;
+	server_init(server);
+	server_start(server);
 
 	struct theme theme = { 0 };
-	theme_init(&theme, &server, rc.theme_name);
+	theme_init(&theme, server, rc.theme_name);
 	rc.theme = &theme;
-	server.theme = &theme;
+	server->theme = &theme;
 
-	menu_init(&server);
+	menu_init(server);
 
 	/* Delay startup of applications until the event loop is ready */
 	struct idle_ctx idle_ctx = {
-		.server = &server,
+		.server = server,
 		.primary_client = primary_client,
 		.startup_cmd = startup_cmd
 	};
-	wl_event_loop_add_idle(server.wl_event_loop, idle_callback, &idle_ctx);
+	wl_event_loop_add_idle(server->wl_event_loop, idle_callback, &idle_ctx);
 
-	wl_display_run(server.wl_display);
+	wl_display_run(server->wl_display);
 
-	session_shutdown(&server);
+	session_shutdown(server);
 
-	menu_finish(&server);
+	menu_finish(server);
 	theme_finish(&theme);
 	rcxml_finish();
 	font_finish();
 
-	server_finish(&server);
+	server_finish(server);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/regions.c b/src/regions.c
index 8ee20169..9dace707 100644
--- a/src/regions.c
+++ b/src/regions.c
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ regions_from_name(const char *region_name, struct output *output)
 struct region *
 regions_from_cursor(struct server *server)
 {
-	assert(server);
 	double lx = server->seat.cursor->x;
 	double ly = server->seat.cursor->y;
 
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index fbbe02dc..a526f2aa 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ reload_config_and_theme(struct server *server)
 static int
 handle_sighup(int signal, void *data)
 {
-	struct server *server = data;
+	struct server *server = &g_server;
 
 	keyboard_cancel_all_keybind_repeats(&server->seat);
 	session_environment_init();
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ handle_sigchld(int signal, void *data)
 {
 	siginfo_t info;
 	info.si_pid = 0;
-	struct server *server = data;
+	struct server *server = &g_server;
 
 	/* First call waitid() with NOWAIT which doesn't consume the zombie */
 	if (waitid(P_ALL, /*id*/ 0, &info, WEXITED | WNOHANG | WNOWAIT) == -1) {
@@ -302,9 +302,9 @@ static bool
 server_global_filter(const struct wl_client *client, const struct wl_global *global, void *data)
 {
 	const struct wl_interface *iface = wl_global_get_interface(global);
-	struct server *server = (struct server *)data;
+	struct server *server = &g_server;
 	/* Silence unused var compiler warnings */
-	(void)iface; (void)server;
+	(void)iface;
 
 #if HAVE_XWAYLAND
 	struct wl_client *xwayland_client = (server->xwayland && server->xwayland->server)
@@ -436,18 +436,18 @@ server_init(struct server *server)
 	/* Increase max client buffer size to make slow clients less likely to terminate  */
 	wl_display_set_default_max_buffer_size(server->wl_display, 1024 * 1024);
 
-	wl_display_set_global_filter(server->wl_display, server_global_filter, server);
+	wl_display_set_global_filter(server->wl_display, server_global_filter, NULL);
 	server->wl_event_loop = wl_display_get_event_loop(server->wl_display);
 
 	/* Catch signals */
 	server->sighup_source = wl_event_loop_add_signal(
-		server->wl_event_loop, SIGHUP, handle_sighup, server);
+		server->wl_event_loop, SIGHUP, handle_sighup, NULL);
 	server->sigint_source = wl_event_loop_add_signal(
 		server->wl_event_loop, SIGINT, handle_sigterm, server->wl_display);
 	server->sigterm_source = wl_event_loop_add_signal(
 		server->wl_event_loop, SIGTERM, handle_sigterm, server->wl_display);
 	server->sigchld_source = wl_event_loop_add_signal(
-		server->wl_event_loop, SIGCHLD, handle_sigchld, server);
+		server->wl_event_loop, SIGCHLD, handle_sigchld, NULL);
 
 	/*
 	 * Prevent wayland clients that request the X11 clipboard but closing
diff --git a/src/xwayland.c b/src/xwayland.c
index da78871d..70b889f3 100644
--- a/src/xwayland.c
+++ b/src/xwayland.c
@@ -606,8 +606,7 @@ update_icon(struct xwayland_view *xwayland_view)
 
 	xcb_window_t window_id = xwayland_view->xwayland_surface->window_id;
 
-	xcb_connection_t *xcb_conn = wlr_xwayland_get_xwm_connection(
-		xwayland_view->base.server->xwayland);
+	xcb_connection_t *xcb_conn = wlr_xwayland_get_xwm_connection(g_server.xwayland);
 	xcb_get_property_cookie_t cookie = xcb_get_property(xcb_conn, 0,
 		window_id, atoms[ATOM_NET_WM_ICON], XCB_ATOM_CARDINAL, 0, 0x10000);
 	xcb_get_property_reply_t *reply = xcb_get_property_reply(xcb_conn, cookie, NULL);