diff --git a/common/sfdo.c b/common/sfdo.c
index a31c87698..e2e685650 100644
--- a/common/sfdo.c
+++ b/common/sfdo.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <sfdo-basedir.h>
 #include <sfdo-desktop.h>
@@ -6,16 +7,24 @@
 #include "log.h"
 #include "sfdo.h"
 
+// this extends libsfdo's behavior to also handle icons specified as absolute paths
 char *sfdo_icon_lookup_extended(struct sfdo *sfdo, char *icon_name, int target_size, int scale) {
-	int lookup_options = SFDO_ICON_THEME_LOOKUP_OPTIONS_DEFAULT;
-	struct sfdo_icon_file *icon_file = \
-		sfdo_icon_theme_lookup(sfdo->icon_theme, icon_name, SFDO_NT, \
-			target_size, scale, lookup_options);
 	char *icon_path = NULL;
-	if (icon_file && icon_file != SFDO_ICON_FILE_INVALID) {
-		icon_path = strdup(sfdo_icon_file_get_path(icon_file, NULL));
+	if (icon_name[0] == '/') {
+		struct stat sb;
+		if (!stat(icon_name, &sb)) {
+			icon_path = strdup(icon_name);
+		}
+	} else {
+		int lookup_options = SFDO_ICON_THEME_LOOKUP_OPTIONS_DEFAULT;
+		struct sfdo_icon_file *icon_file = \
+			sfdo_icon_theme_lookup(sfdo->icon_theme, icon_name, SFDO_NT, \
+				target_size, scale, lookup_options);
+		if (icon_file && icon_file != SFDO_ICON_FILE_INVALID) {
+			icon_path = strdup(sfdo_icon_file_get_path(icon_file, NULL));
+		}
+		sfdo_icon_file_destroy(icon_file);
 	}
-	sfdo_icon_file_destroy(icon_file);
 	return icon_path;
 }
 
diff --git a/include/swaybar/image.h b/include/swaybar/image.h
index 53a210dd7..332e81152 100644
--- a/include/swaybar/image.h
+++ b/include/swaybar/image.h
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 #define _SWAYBAR_IMAGE_H
 #include <cairo.h>
 
-cairo_surface_t *load_image(const char *path);
+cairo_surface_t *load_image(const char *path, int target_size, int scale);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/swaybar/image.c b/swaybar/image.c
index ed24b9f99..f3ba2082d 100644
--- a/swaybar/image.c
+++ b/swaybar/image.c
@@ -104,11 +104,27 @@ static cairo_surface_t* gdk_cairo_image_surface_create_from_pixbuf(
 }
 #endif // HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF
 
-cairo_surface_t *load_image(const char *path) {
+cairo_surface_t *load_image(const char *path, int target_size, int scale) {
 	cairo_surface_t *image;
 #if HAVE_GDK_PIXBUF
 	GError *err = NULL;
-	GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(path, &err);
+	GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = NULL;
+	// svg images should be loaded at target size. the size read from an svg
+	// file is only nominal and can lead to an image too small for the avaialble
+	// space compared to bitmap icons selected at the nearest available size
+	int i = strlen(path) - 1;
+	// this is naive and assumes ascii, utf-8, or another encoding
+	// that encodes these letters as single bytes
+	if ((i > 2) &&
+		(path[i] == 'g' || path[i] == 'G') && \
+		(path[i - 1] == 'v' || path[i - 1] == 'V') && \
+		(path[i - 2] == 's' || path[i - 2] == 'S') && \
+		(path[i - 3] == '.' )) {
+		pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file_at_scale(path, -1, target_size, \
+							true, &err);
+	} else {
+		pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(path, &err);
+	}
 	if (!pixbuf) {
 		sway_log(SWAY_ERROR, "Failed to load background image (%s).",
 				err->message);
diff --git a/swaybar/tray/item.c b/swaybar/tray/item.c
index 455feda4a..e7b8d4231 100644
--- a/swaybar/tray/item.c
+++ b/swaybar/tray/item.c
@@ -421,8 +421,7 @@ static enum hotspot_event_handling icon_hotspot_callback(
 	return HOTSPOT_PROCESS;
 }
 
-static void reload_sni(struct swaybar_sni *sni, char *icon_theme,
-		int target_size) {
+static void reload_sni(struct swaybar_sni *sni, char *icon_theme, int target_size) {
 	char *icon_name = sni->status[0] == 'N' ?
 		sni->attention_icon_name : sni->icon_name;
 	if (icon_name) {
@@ -437,20 +436,15 @@ static void reload_sni(struct swaybar_sni *sni, char *icon_theme,
 				icon_name, target_size, icon_theme,
 				&sni->min_size, &sni->max_size);
 #else
+		// TODO: at some point we will need to make this scaling-aware
+		int scale = 1;
 		struct sfdo *sfdo = sni->tray->bar->config->sfdo;
 		if (sfdo) {
-			int lookup_options = SFDO_ICON_THEME_LOOKUP_OPTIONS_DEFAULT;
-			int scale = 1;
-			struct sfdo_icon_file *icon_file = \
-				sfdo_icon_theme_lookup(sfdo->icon_theme, icon_name, SFDO_NT, \
-					target_size, scale, lookup_options);
-			if (!icon_file || icon_file == SFDO_ICON_FILE_INVALID) {
-				sway_log(SWAY_ERROR, "sfdo: icon %s invalid or not found in theme %s at size %d", \
+			icon_path = sfdo_icon_lookup_extended(sfdo, icon_name, target_size, scale);
+			if (!icon_path) {
+				sway_log(SWAY_DEBUG, "sfdo: icon %s invalid or not found in theme %s at size %d", \
 					icon_name, icon_theme, target_size);
-			} else {
-				icon_path = strdup(sfdo_icon_file_get_path(icon_file, NULL));
 			}
-			sfdo_icon_file_destroy(icon_file);
 		}
 #endif
 #if !HAVE_LIBSFDO
@@ -458,9 +452,17 @@ static void reload_sni(struct swaybar_sni *sni, char *icon_theme,
 #endif
 		if (icon_path) {
 			cairo_surface_destroy(sni->icon);
-			sni->icon = load_image(icon_path);
+			sni->icon = load_image(icon_path, target_size, scale);
 			free(icon_path);
 			return;
+		} else {
+			// the :( icon won't be drawn for a missing icon and whichever old icon was
+			// loaded will persist if this is not done. one might not have noticed this
+			// for tray items that have only one icon loaded only once, successfully or
+			// unsuccessfully. items with multiple icons, such as fcitx5 or other input
+			// method frameworks make the problem apparent
+			free(sni->icon);
+			sni->icon = NULL;
 		}
 	}