diff --git a/nvidiactl/nvidiactl b/nvidiactl/nvidiactl
index 7944b08..564d06e 100755
--- a/nvidiactl/nvidiactl
+++ b/nvidiactl/nvidiactl
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ fi
 
 insmod ${nvlink}/nvidia.ko ${nvargs}
 
+nvdrmargs=""
+if /usr/sbin/hostconfig desktop 2>/dev/null ; then
+  echo >&2 "NOTE: tag 'desktop' set, enabling kernel modesetting in nvidia-drm"
+  nvdrmargs="modeset=1"
+fi
+
 # Count the number of NVIDIA controllers found.
 NVDEVS=$(lspci | grep -i NVIDIA)
 N3D=$(echo "$NVDEVS" | grep "3D controller" | wc -l)
@@ -98,7 +104,7 @@ if [ ! -z $N ]; then
     fi
   fi
   test -e  ${nvlink}/nvidia-modeset.ko && insmod ${nvlink}/nvidia-modeset.ko
-  test -e  ${nvlink}/nvidia-drm.ko && insmod ${nvlink}/nvidia-drm.ko
+  test -e  ${nvlink}/nvidia-drm.ko && insmod ${nvlink}/nvidia-drm.ko ${nvdrmargs}
 fi
 
 exit 0