diff --git a/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in b/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in
index 0e84315c3..6533e125b 100755
--- a/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in
+++ b/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 
 set -e
 
+# probe to test if autospawn works, else resort to starting manually
+@PACTL_BINARY@ info > /dev/null 2>&1 || @PA_BINARY@ --start "$@"
+
 if [ x"$DISPLAY" != x ] ; then
 
     @PACTL_BINARY@ load-module module-x11-publish "display=$DISPLAY xauthority=$XAUTHORITY" > /dev/null