diff --git a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-restart b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-restart
index 1dc5e9d7..d6ba6e7b 100755
--- a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-restart
+++ b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-restart
@@ -7,20 +7,24 @@ pkill -u "$USER" -x taffybar || true
 
 cd "$root"
 
-# Hyprland can restart and change the instance signature, leaving old shells with
-# a stale HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE. Fix it before launching taffybar so any
-# `hyprctl` calls inside the bar work.
+# Hyprland can restart and change the instance signature, and controller shells
+# can retain stale X11 session variables. Prefer the live Hyprland instance when
+# one is available so taffybar starts on the Wayland backend.
 if command -v hyprctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  if ! hyprctl monitors -j >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    instances_json="$(hyprctl instances -j 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  instances_json="$(hyprctl instances -j 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  if [[ -n "${instances_json:-}" ]]; then
     if [[ -n "${WAYLAND_DISPLAY:-}" ]]; then
-      inst="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r --arg sock "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" '.[] | select(.wl_socket == $sock) | .instance' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
+      inst_row="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r --arg sock "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" '.[] | select(.instance and .wl_socket and .wl_socket == $sock) | [.instance, .wl_socket] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
     else
-      inst="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r '.[0].instance // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)"
+      inst_row="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r '.[] | select(.instance and .wl_socket) | [.instance, .wl_socket] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
     fi
 
-    if [[ -n "${inst:-}" ]]; then
+    if [[ -n "${inst_row:-}" ]]; then
+      read -r inst wl_socket <<<"$inst_row"
       export HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE="$inst"
+      export WAYLAND_DISPLAY="$wl_socket"
+      export XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
+      export GDK_BACKEND=wayland
     fi
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-run b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-run
index b83919ec..138bdb3b 100755
--- a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-run
+++ b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/scripts/taffybar-run
@@ -4,20 +4,24 @@ set -euo pipefail
 root="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 cd "$root"
 
-# Hyprland can restart and change the instance signature, leaving old shells with
-# a stale HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE. Fix it before launching taffybar so any
-# `hyprctl` calls inside the bar work.
+# Hyprland can restart and change the instance signature, and controller shells
+# can retain stale X11 session variables. Prefer the live Hyprland instance when
+# one is available so taffybar starts on the Wayland backend.
 if command -v hyprctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  if ! hyprctl monitors -j >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    instances_json="$(hyprctl instances -j 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  instances_json="$(hyprctl instances -j 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  if [[ -n "${instances_json:-}" ]]; then
     if [[ -n "${WAYLAND_DISPLAY:-}" ]]; then
-      inst="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r --arg sock "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" '.[] | select(.wl_socket == $sock) | .instance' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
+      inst_row="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r --arg sock "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" '.[] | select(.instance and .wl_socket and .wl_socket == $sock) | [.instance, .wl_socket] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
     else
-      inst="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r '.[0].instance // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)"
+      inst_row="$(printf '%s\n' "$instances_json" | jq -r '.[] | select(.instance and .wl_socket) | [.instance, .wl_socket] | @tsv' 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true)"
     fi
 
-    if [[ -n "${inst:-}" ]]; then
+    if [[ -n "${inst_row:-}" ]]; then
+      read -r inst wl_socket <<<"$inst_row"
       export HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE="$inst"
+      export WAYLAND_DISPLAY="$wl_socket"
+      export XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
+      export GDK_BACKEND=wayland
     fi
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar
index 658bc71d..d985cabb 160000
--- a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar
+++ b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 658bc71dc750b6a73ff3e86c872cf72093815c58
+Subproject commit d985cabb6ce104c7c74df6da23454cf0a747f3ed
diff --git a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar.css b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar.css
index 6369826e..6f7dc78b 100644
--- a/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar.css
+++ b/dotfiles/config/taffybar/taffybar.css
@@ -129,6 +129,15 @@
 	padding: 0px;
 }
 
+/* This must outrank the end-widget nth-last-child color rotation.  Otherwise
+   the collapsed MPRIS end widget can still render as a thin blue strip. */
+.taffy-box > .outer-pad.end-widget.mpris.no-visible-children {
+	background-color: @transparent;
+	background-image: none;
+	box-shadow: none;
+	border-width: 0px;
+}
+
 /* Workspaces styling */
 
 /* Reset workspace .outer-pad pills to default styling so the nth-child color