diff --git a/crates/zed/resources/flatpak/manifest-template.json b/crates/zed/resources/flatpak/manifest-template.json
index 1560027e9f..0a14a1c2b0 100644
--- a/crates/zed/resources/flatpak/manifest-template.json
+++ b/crates/zed/resources/flatpak/manifest-template.json
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
       },
       "build-commands": [
         "install -Dm644 $ICON_FILE.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/$APP_ID.png",
-        "envsubst < zed.desktop.in > zed.desktop && install -Dm644 zed.desktop /app/share/applications/$APP_ID.desktop",
+        "envsubst < zed.desktop.in > zed.desktop && install -Dm755 zed.desktop /app/share/applications/$APP_ID.desktop",
         "envsubst < flatpak/zed.metainfo.xml.in > zed.metainfo.xml && install -Dm644 zed.metainfo.xml /app/share/metainfo/$APP_ID.metainfo.xml",
         "sed -i -e '/@release_info@/{r flatpak/release-info/$CHANNEL' -e 'd}' /app/share/metainfo/$APP_ID.metainfo.xml",
         "install -Dm755 bin/zed /app/bin/zed",
diff --git a/docs/src/development/linux.md b/docs/src/development/linux.md
index 6fff25f6c1..d7b586be34 100644
--- a/docs/src/development/linux.md
+++ b/docs/src/development/linux.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ Zed has two main binaries:
 
 - You will need to build `crates/cli` and make its binary available in `$PATH` with the name `zed`.
 - You will need to build `crates/zed` and put it at `$PATH/to/cli/../../libexec/zed-editor`. For example, if you are going to put the cli at `~/.local/bin/zed` put zed at `~/.local/libexec/zed-editor`. As some linux distributions (notably Arch) discourage the use of `libexec`, you can also put this binary at `$PATH/to/cli/../../lib/zed/zed-editor` (e.g. `~/.local/lib/zed/zed-editor`) instead.
-- If you are going to provide a `.desktop` file you can find a template in `crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in`, and use `envsubst` to populate it with the values required. This file should also be renamed to `$APP_ID.desktop` so that the file [follows the FreeDesktop standards](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12707#issuecomment-2168742761).
+- If you are going to provide a `.desktop` file you can find a template in `crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in`, and use `envsubst` to populate it with the values required. This file should also be renamed to `$APP_ID.desktop` so that the file [follows the FreeDesktop standards](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12707#issuecomment-2168742761). You should also make this desktop file executable (`chmod 755`).
 - You will need to ensure that the necessary libraries are installed. You can get the current list by [inspecting the built binary](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/935cf542aebf55122ce6ed1c91d0fe8711970c82/script/bundle-linux#L65-L67) on your system.
 - For an example of a complete build script, see [script/bundle-linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/935cf542aebf55122ce6ed1c91d0fe8711970c82/script/bundle-linux).
 - You can disable Zed's auto updates and provide instructions for users who try to update Zed manually by building (or running) Zed with the environment variable `ZED_UPDATE_EXPLANATION`. For example: `ZED_UPDATE_EXPLANATION="Please use flatpak to update zed."`.
diff --git a/nix/build.nix b/nix/build.nix
index 873431a427..70b4f76932 100644
--- a/nix/build.nix
+++ b/nix/build.nix
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ craneLib.buildPackage (
             export APP_ARGS="%U"
             mkdir -p "$out/share/applications"
             ${lib.getExe envsubst} < "crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in" > "$out/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed-Nightly.desktop"
+            chmod +x "$out/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed-Nightly.desktop"
           )
 
           runHook postInstall
diff --git a/script/bundle-freebsd b/script/bundle-freebsd
index 7222a06256..87c9459ffb 100755
--- a/script/bundle-freebsd
+++ b/script/bundle-freebsd
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ fi
 
 # mkdir -p "${zed_dir}/share/applications"
 # envsubst <"crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in" >"${zed_dir}/share/applications/zed$suffix.desktop"
+# chmod +x "${zed_dir}/share/applications/zed$suffix.desktop"
 
 # Copy generated licenses so they'll end up in archive too
 # cp "assets/licenses.md" "${zed_dir}/licenses.md"
diff --git a/script/bundle-linux b/script/bundle-linux
index 64de62ce9b..ad67b7a0f7 100755
--- a/script/bundle-linux
+++ b/script/bundle-linux
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ fi
 
 mkdir -p "${zed_dir}/share/applications"
 envsubst < "crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in" > "${zed_dir}/share/applications/zed$suffix.desktop"
+chmod +x "${zed_dir}/share/applications/zed$suffix.desktop"
 
 # Copy generated licenses so they'll end up in archive too
 cp "assets/licenses.md" "${zed_dir}/licenses.md"