diff --git a/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in b/src/daemon/start-pulseaudio-x11.in
index 722a639c0..7cdf14e4d 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 || /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start "$@"
+
 if [ -n "$1" ] ; then
     case $1 in
     stop)