diff --git a/src/utils/systemnotification.cpp b/src/utils/systemnotification.cpp
index d4bf8e4..6066260 100644
--- a/src/utils/systemnotification.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/systemnotification.cpp
@@ -80,7 +80,13 @@ void SystemNotification::sendMessage(const QString& text,
          << QStringList()                // actions
          << hintsMap                     // hints
          << timeout;                     // timeout
-    m_interface->callWithArgumentList(
-      QDBus::AutoDetect, QStringLiteral("Notify"), args);
+    // Fire-and-forget: an asynchronous call never blocks the event loop, even
+    // when no notification daemon is registered on the session bus (e.g. bare
+    // startx / tiling WM sessions). The previous synchronous callWithArgumentList
+    // stalled the main thread for the QtDBus reply timeout (~25s) after every
+    // capture, freezing further captures until it returned.
+    if (m_interface != nullptr) {
+        m_interface->asyncCallWithArgumentList(QStringLiteral("Notify"), args);
+    }
 #endif
 }