diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bdea8261c..962ff3918 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ You'll need the following dependencies:
 * libglib2.0-dev
 * libgranite-dev >= 6.0.0
 * libhandy-1-dev >= 1.1.90
+* libportal-dev
+* libportal-gtk3-dev
 * libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev
 * meson
 * valac
diff --git a/data/daemon.desktop b/data/daemon.desktop
deleted file mode 100644
index 16c61812d..000000000
--- a/data/daemon.desktop
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-[Desktop Entry]
-Name=Mail Daemon
-Comment=Send and receive mail
-Exec=io.elementary.mail --background
-Icon=io.elementary.mail
-Terminal=false
-Type=Application
-NoDisplay=true
-X-GNOME-AutoRestart=true
-X-GNOME-Autostart-Delay=5
-X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Applications
diff --git a/data/meson.build b/data/meson.build
index f6b6bb55b..672b9aa41 100644
--- a/data/meson.build
+++ b/data/meson.build
@@ -13,12 +13,6 @@ foreach i : icon_sizes
     )
 endforeach
 
-install_data(
-    'daemon.desktop',
-    install_dir: join_paths(get_option('sysconfdir'), 'xdg', 'autostart'),
-    rename: meson.project_name() + '-daemon.desktop'
-)
-
 install_data(
     meson.project_name() + '.gschema.xml',
     install_dir: join_paths(get_option('datadir'), 'glib-2.0', 'schemas')
diff --git a/io.elementary.mail.json b/io.elementary.mail.json
index 63cbb6ad0..91f80427f 100644
--- a/io.elementary.mail.json
+++ b/io.elementary.mail.json
@@ -127,6 +127,21 @@
                 }
             ]
         },
+        {
+            "name": "libportal",
+            "buildsystem": "meson",
+            "config-opts": [
+                "-Ddocs=false",
+                "-Dbackends=['gtk3']"
+            ],
+            "sources" : [
+                {
+                    "type": "git",
+                    "url": "https://github.com/flatpak/libportal.git",
+                    "tag": "0.6"
+                }
+            ]
+        },
         {
             "name": "mail",
             "buildsystem": "meson",
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 5e6b64d04..79e715cf0 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ else
     webkit2_dep = dependency('webkit2gtk-4.0', version: '>=2.28')
     webkit2_web_extension_dep = dependency('webkit2gtk-web-extension-4.0', version: '>=2.28')
 endif
+libportal_dep = dependency('libportal')
+libportal_gtk_dep = dependency('libportal-gtk3')
 folks_dep = dependency('folks')
 m_dep = meson.get_compiler('c').find_library('m')
 
@@ -39,6 +41,8 @@ dependencies = [
     camel_dep,
     libedataserver_dep,
     libedataserverui_dep,
+    libportal_dep,
+    libportal_gtk_dep,
     webkit2_dep,
     folks_dep,
     m_dep
diff --git a/src/Application.vala b/src/Application.vala
index 8b1b5bb33..47c4b1ca7 100644
--- a/src/Application.vala
+++ b/src/Application.vala
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ public class Mail.Application : Gtk.Application {
     public static GLib.Settings settings;
     public static bool run_in_background;
     private Gtk.Settings gtk_settings;
+    private bool first_activation = true;
 
     public Application () {
         Object (
@@ -143,18 +144,17 @@ public class Mail.Application : Gtk.Application {
         add_action (quit_action);
         set_accels_for_action ("app.quit", {"<Control>q"});
 
-        /* Needed to ask the flatpak portal for autostart and background permissions with a parent window
-           and to prevent issues with Session.start being called from the InboxMonitor first */
-        if (!run_in_background) {
-            activate ();
-        }
-
         new InboxMonitor ().start.begin ();
-        hold ();
     }
 
     public override void activate () {
+        if (first_activation) {
+            first_activation = false;
+            hold ();
+        }
+
         if (run_in_background) {
+            request_background.begin ();
             run_in_background = false;
             return;
         }
@@ -193,6 +193,35 @@ public class Mail.Application : Gtk.Application {
         main_window.present ();
     }
 
+    public async void request_background () {
+        var portal = new Xdp.Portal ();
+
+        Xdp.Parent? parent = active_window != null ? Xdp.parent_new_gtk (active_window) : null;
+
+        var command = new GenericArray<weak string> ();
+        command.add ("io.elementary.mail");
+        command.add ("--background");
+
+        try {
+            if (!yield portal.request_background (
+                parent,
+                _("Mail will automatically start when this device turns on and run when its window is closed so that it can send notifications when new mail arrives."),
+                (owned) command,
+                Xdp.BackgroundFlags.AUTOSTART,
+                null
+            )) {
+                release ();
+            }
+        } catch (Error e) {
+            if (e is IOError.CANCELLED) {
+                debug ("Request for autostart and background permissions denied: %s", e.message);
+                release ();
+            } else {
+                warning ("Failed to request autostart and background permissions: %s", e.message);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     private void check_theme () {
         if (!gtk_settings.gtk_theme_name.has_prefix ("io.elementary")) {
             gtk_settings.gtk_theme_name = "io.elementary.stylesheet.blueberry";
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.vala b/src/MainWindow.vala
index 398d09c7c..03beb9ed3 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.vala
+++ b/src/MainWindow.vala
@@ -213,6 +213,12 @@ public class Mail.MainWindow : Hdy.ApplicationWindow {
             session_started ();
         });
 
+        delete_event.connect (() => {
+            ((Application)application).request_background.begin (() => destroy ());
+
+            return Gdk.EVENT_STOP;
+        });
+
         destroy.connect (() => {
             session.disconnect (account_removed_handler);
             session.disconnect (account_added_handler);