diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index ae61306a97..efcbeca75a 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ SUBDIRS = config development intl po $(BOOST) src sourcedoc lib \
 EXTRA_DIST = ANNOUNCE INSTALL.autoconf RELEASE-NOTES UPGRADING \
 	INSTALL.Win32 INSTALL.MacOSX INSTALL.scons INSTALL.cmake \
 	README.Win32 README.Cygwin README.localization lyx.1in \
-	autogen.sh lib/lyx.desktop
+	autogen.sh lib/lyx.desktop lib/images/lyx.svg
 
 man_MANS = lyx.1
 
diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES b/RELEASE-NOTES
index 361b30ccd6..28f9aedd06 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ The following LyX key bindings have been changed:
   The binding to "C-minus" has changed to "C-S-underscore".
 
 
+Linux desktop file specification and scalable icon has been included
+into the tarball.
+
+
 New external programs and libraries:
 ------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/lib/Makefile.am b/lib/Makefile.am
index 93e03e7af3..a96ae2fb7a 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/Makefile.am
@@ -1606,6 +1606,19 @@ dist_tex_DATA = \
 	tex/lyxskak.sty \
 	tex/revtex.cls
 
+if !INSTALL_WINDOWS
+if !INSTALL_MACOSX
+# install application icons. The 'hicolor' theme is the default theme
+# where applications themselves should install their icons.
+scalableappiconsdir = $(datadir)/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps
+scalableappicons_DATA = images/lyx.svg
+
+fixedappiconsdir = $(datadir)/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps
+fixedappicons_DATA = images/lyx.png
+
+endif
+endif
+
 # subscript.sty is not in dist_tex_DATA since we don't want to install it
 # (it is part of TeXLive). We include it in our source package only so that
 # packagers may decide to install it (e.g. for MikTeX).
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
index d66fa80c0b..4ac5d6b94a 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiView.cpp
@@ -444,11 +444,18 @@ GuiView::GuiView(int id)
 	setAttribute(Qt::WA_DeleteOnClose, true);
 
 #if (!defined(Q_WS_WIN) && !defined(Q_WS_MACX))
+	// QIcon::fromTheme was introduced in Qt 4.6
+#if (QT_VERSION >= 0x040600)
 	// assign an icon to main form. We do not do it under Qt/Win or Qt/Mac,
-	// since the icon is provided in the application bundle.
+	// since the icon is provided in the application bundle. We use a themed
+	// version when available and use the bundled one as fallback.
+	setWindowIcon(QIcon::fromTheme("lyx", getPixmap("images/", "lyx", "png")));
+#else
 	setWindowIcon(getPixmap("images/", "lyx", "png"));
 #endif
 
+#endif
+
 #if (QT_VERSION >= 0x040300)
 	// use tabbed dock area for multiple docks
 	// (such as "source" and "messages")