diff --git a/src/xpra/gtk_common/gtk_util.py b/src/xpra/gtk_common/gtk_util.py
index d1d8b93384..74ee361650 100644
--- a/src/xpra/gtk_common/gtk_util.py
+++ b/src/xpra/gtk_common/gtk_util.py
@@ -88,6 +88,17 @@ def popup_menu_workaround(*args):
     #only implemented with GTK2 on win32 below
     pass
 
+def pixbuf_save_to_memory(pixbuf, fmt="png"):
+    buf = []
+    def save_to_memory(data, *_args, **_kwargs):
+        buf.append(strtobytes(data))
+        return True
+    if is_gtk3():
+        pixbuf.save_to_callbackv(save_to_memory, None, fmt, [], [])
+    else:
+        pixbuf.save_to_callback(save_to_memory, fmt, {}, buf)
+    return b"".join(buf)
+
 
 if is_gtk3():
     def is_realized(widget):
diff --git a/src/xpra/platform/xposix/xdg_helper.py b/src/xpra/platform/xposix/xdg_helper.py
index 2ecedb40f6..9d6ad3e297 100644
--- a/src/xpra/platform/xposix/xdg_helper.py
+++ b/src/xpra/platform/xposix/xdg_helper.py
@@ -65,13 +65,29 @@ def export(entry, properties=[]):
 
 def load_icon_from_file(filename):
     if filename.endswith("xpm"):
+        try:
+            from xpra.gtk_common.gobject_compat import import_pixbufloader
+            from xpra.gtk_common.gtk_util import pixbuf_save_to_memory
+            data = load_binary_file(filename)
+            loader = import_pixbufloader()()
+            loader.write(data)
+            loader.close()
+            pixbuf = loader.get_pixbuf()
+            pngicondata = pixbuf_save_to_memory(pixbuf, "png")
+            return pngicondata, "png"
+        except Exception as e:
+            log("pixbuf error loading %s", filename, exc_info=True)
+            log.error("Error loading '%s':", filename)
+            log.error(" %s", e)
+        #try PIL:
         from PIL import Image
         try:
             img = Image.open(filename)
-        except Exception:
+        except Exception as e:
             log("Image.open(%s)", filename, exc_info=True)
-            log.error("Error loading '%s'", filename)
-            raise
+            log.error("Error loading '%s':", filename)
+            log.error(" %s", e)
+            return None
         buf = BytesIOClass()
         img.save(buf, "PNG")
         pngicondata = buf.getvalue()
diff --git a/src/xpra/server/shadow/gtk_root_window_model.py b/src/xpra/server/shadow/gtk_root_window_model.py
index 32cd292919..0e2409af87 100644
--- a/src/xpra/server/shadow/gtk_root_window_model.py
+++ b/src/xpra/server/shadow/gtk_root_window_model.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@
 from xpra.log import Logger
 log = Logger("shadow")
 
-from xpra.os_util import monotonic_time, strtobytes
+from xpra.os_util import monotonic_time
 from xpra.codecs.image_wrapper import ImageWrapper
-from xpra.gtk_common.gtk_util import get_pixbuf_from_window, is_gtk3
+from xpra.gtk_common.gtk_util import get_pixbuf_from_window, pixbuf_save_to_memory
 
 
 def get_rgb_rawdata(window, x, y, width, height):
@@ -41,16 +41,9 @@ def take_png_screenshot(window):
     log("grabbing screenshot")
     w,h = window.get_geometry()[2:4]
     pixbuf = get_pixbuf_from_window(window, 0, 0, w, h)
-    buf = []
-    def save_to_memory(data, *_args, **_kwargs):
-        buf.append(strtobytes(data))
-        return True
-    if is_gtk3():
-        pixbuf.save_to_callbackv(save_to_memory, None, "png", [], [])
-    else:
-        pixbuf.save_to_callback(save_to_memory, "png", {}, buf)
+    data = pixbuf_save_to_memory(pixbuf, "png")
     rowstride = w*3
-    return w, h, "png", rowstride, b"".join(buf)
+    return w, h, "png", rowstride, data
 
 
 class GTKImageCapture(object):