diff --git a/docs/build.rst b/docs/build.rst
index bdc5f1152..673aca87e 100644
--- a/docs/build.rst
+++ b/docs/build.rst
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ Build-time dependencies:
     * gcc or clang
     * pkg-config
     * For building on Linux in addition to the above dependencies you might also need to install the ``-dev`` packages for:
-      ``libdbus-1-dev``, ``libxcursor-dev``, ``libxrandr-dev``, ``libxi-dev``, ``libxinerama-dev``, ``libgl1-mesa-dev``, ``libxkbcommon-x11-dev``, ``libfontconfig-dev``, ``libcanberra-dev`` and ``libpython-dev``.
+      ``libdbus-1-dev``, ``libxcursor-dev``, ``libxrandr-dev``, ``libxi-dev``, ``libxinerama-dev``, ``libgl1-mesa-dev``, ``libxkbcommon-x11-dev``, ``libfontconfig-dev``, and ``libpython-dev``,
       if they are not already installed by your distro.
 
 Install and run from source
diff --git a/kitty/desktop.c b/kitty/desktop.c
index 3348aab4c..5084ad279 100644
--- a/kitty/desktop.c
+++ b/kitty/desktop.c
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 #include "data-types.h"
 #include <dlfcn.h>
-#include <canberra.h>
 
 #define FUNC(name, restype, ...) typedef restype (*name##_func)(__VA_ARGS__); static name##_func name = NULL
 #define LOAD_FUNC(handle, name) {\
@@ -90,15 +89,56 @@ static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}        /* Sentinel */
 };
 
-static ca_context *canberra_ctx = NULL;
+static void* libcanberra_handle = NULL;
+static void *canberra_ctx = NULL;
+FUNC(ca_context_create, int, void**);
+FUNC(ca_context_destroy, int, void*);
+typedef int (*ca_context_play_func)(void*, uint32_t, ...); static ca_context_play_func ca_context_play = NULL;
+
+static PyObject*
+load_libcanberra_functions(void) {
+    LOAD_FUNC(libcanberra_handle, ca_context_create);
+    LOAD_FUNC(libcanberra_handle, ca_context_play);
+    LOAD_FUNC(libcanberra_handle, ca_context_destroy);
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static void
+load_libcanberra(void) {
+    static const char* libname = "libcanberra.so";
+    // some installs are missing the .so symlink, so try the full name
+    static const char* libname2 = "libcanberra.so.0";
+    static const char* libname3 = "libcanberra.so.0.2.5";
+    static bool done = false;
+    if (done) return;
+    done = true;
+    libcanberra_handle = dlopen(libname, RTLD_LAZY);
+    if (libcanberra_handle == NULL) libsn_handle = dlopen(libname2, RTLD_LAZY);
+    if (libcanberra_handle == NULL) libsn_handle = dlopen(libname3, RTLD_LAZY);
+    if (libcanberra_handle == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to load %s, cannot play beep sound, with error: %s\n", libname, dlerror());
+        return;
+    }
+    load_libcanberra_functions();
+    if (PyErr_Occurred()) {
+        PyErr_Print();
+        dlclose(libcanberra_handle); libcanberra_handle = NULL;
+    }
+    if (ca_context_create(&canberra_ctx) != 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create libcanberra context, cannot play beep sound\n");
+        ca_context_destroy(canberra_ctx); canberra_ctx = NULL;
+        dlclose(libcanberra_handle); libcanberra_handle = NULL;
+    }
+}
 
 void
 play_canberra_sound(const char *which_sound, const char *event_id) {
-    if (canberra_ctx == NULL) ca_context_create(&canberra_ctx);
+    load_libcanberra();
+    if (libcanberra_handle == NULL || canberra_ctx == NULL) return;
     ca_context_play(
         canberra_ctx, 0,
-        CA_PROP_EVENT_ID, which_sound,
-        CA_PROP_EVENT_DESCRIPTION, event_id,
+        "event.id", which_sound,
+        "event.description", event_id,
         NULL
     );
 }
@@ -109,6 +149,7 @@ finalize(void) {
     libsn_handle = NULL;
     if (canberra_ctx) ca_context_destroy(canberra_ctx);
     canberra_ctx = NULL;
+    if (libcanberra_handle) dlclose(libcanberra_handle);
 }
 
 bool
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 29020a557..257727cb5 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -270,9 +270,6 @@ def kitty_env():
     gl_libs = ['-framework', 'OpenGL'] if is_macos else pkg_config('gl', '--libs')
     libpng = pkg_config('libpng', '--libs')
     ans.ldpaths += pylib + font_libs + gl_libs + libpng
-    if not is_macos:
-        cflags.extend(pkg_config('libcanberra', '--cflags-only-I'))
-        ans.ldpaths += pkg_config('libcanberra', '--libs')
     if is_macos:
         ans.ldpaths.extend('-framework Cocoa'.split())
     else: