diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/services/Notifs.qml b/config/dot/quickshell/services/Notifs.qml
index a4cf51f..368ef77 100644
--- a/config/dot/quickshell/services/Notifs.qml
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/services/Notifs.qml
@@ -88,7 +88,11 @@ Singleton {
     }
 
     function applicationLabel(appId: string, entries: var, remembered: var): string {
-        const entry = DesktopEntries.byId(appId) || DesktopEntries.heuristicLookup(appId);
+        const desktopId = appId.endsWith(".desktop") ? appId.slice(0, -8) : appId;
+        const entry = DesktopEntries.byId(appId)
+            || DesktopEntries.byId(desktopId)
+            || DesktopEntries.heuristicLookup(appId)
+            || DesktopEntries.heuristicLookup(desktopId);
         return entry?.name || remembered[appId]?.name || appId;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/NotificationAppRulesHarness.qml b/tests/quickshell/NotificationAppRulesHarness.qml
index f4bdf8f..35c87f2 100644
--- a/tests/quickshell/NotificationAppRulesHarness.qml
+++ b/tests/quickshell/NotificationAppRulesHarness.qml
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ ShellRoot {
             const appId = Notifs.notificationAppId(signal);
             const initialRules = DesktopPreferences.get("notificationAppRules");
 
+            const fallback = root.notification(6, "", "Fallback Terminal");
+            Notifs.handleNotification(fallback);
+            const fallbackId = Notifs.notificationAppId(fallback);
+            const fallbackApplication = Notifs.applications.find(app => app.id === fallbackId);
+
             root.resetNotifications();
             Notifs.setAppRule(appId, { enabled: false });
             const muted = root.notification(2, "org.signal.Signal.desktop", "Signal");
@@ -80,6 +85,10 @@ ShellRoot {
             return JSON.stringify({
                 appId: appId,
                 initialRules: initialRules,
+                fallback: {
+                    id: fallbackId,
+                    application: fallbackApplication
+                },
                 muted: mutedResult,
                 dnd: {
                     tracked: dnd.tracked,
@@ -109,5 +118,9 @@ ShellRoot {
         function restored(): string {
             return JSON.stringify(DesktopPreferences.get("notificationAppRules"));
         }
+
+        function applications(): string {
+            return JSON.stringify(Notifs.applications);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/fixtures/org.persist.App.desktop b/tests/quickshell/fixtures/org.persist.App.desktop
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f986f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/quickshell/fixtures/org.persist.App.desktop
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Name=Persisted Fixture App
+Exec=/usr/bin/true
+Icon=applications-system
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/notification-app-rules-contract.sh b/tests/quickshell/notification-app-rules-contract.sh
index 440aced..5568454 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/notification-app-rules-contract.sh
+++ b/tests/quickshell/notification-app-rules-contract.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ repo_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
 service="$repo_dir/config/dot/quickshell/services/Notifs.qml"
 page="$repo_dir/config/dot/quickshell/modules/settings/NotificationsPage.qml"
 harness_fixture="$repo_dir/tests/quickshell/NotificationAppRulesHarness.qml"
+desktop_entry_fixture="$repo_dir/tests/quickshell/fixtures/org.persist.App.desktop"
 
 fail() {
     printf 'notification application rules contract: %s\n' "$1" >&2
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ fail() {
 [[ -f "$service" ]] || fail 'notification service is missing'
 [[ -f "$page" ]] || fail 'notification settings page is missing'
 [[ -f "$harness_fixture" ]] || fail 'runtime harness fixture is missing'
+[[ -f "$desktop_entry_fixture" ]] || fail 'runtime desktop entry fixture is missing'
 
 SERVICE_PATH="$service" PAGE_PATH="$page" bun -e '
 const source = await Bun.file(process.env.SERVICE_PATH).text();
@@ -109,6 +111,7 @@ console.log("notification application rules contract: PASS");
 
 state_home="$(mktemp -d /tmp/panama-notification-rules-state.XXXXXX)"
 config_home="$(mktemp -d /tmp/panama-notification-rules-config.XXXXXX)"
+data_home="$(mktemp -d /tmp/panama-notification-rules-data.XXXXXX)"
 config_path="$state_home/quickshell"
 harness="$config_path/notification-app-rules-harness.qml"
 shell_log="$state_home/notification-app-rules.log"
@@ -117,12 +120,14 @@ cleanup() {
     if [[ -n "${bus_pid:-}" ]]; then
         kill "$bus_pid" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     fi
-    rm -rf "$state_home" "$config_home"
+    rm -rf "$state_home" "$config_home" "$data_home"
 }
 trap cleanup EXIT
 
 cp -a "$repo_dir/config/dot/quickshell" "$config_path"
 cp "$harness_fixture" "$harness"
+mkdir -p "$data_home/applications"
+cp "$desktop_entry_fixture" "$data_home/applications/org.persist.App.desktop"
 
 # This is intentionally a copy-local integration dependency. The production
 # schema is Claude's change; the runtime contract proves persistence only once
@@ -140,6 +145,7 @@ bus_pid="${dbus_info[1]:-}"
 qs_for_test() {
     DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="$bus_address" \
         XDG_STATE_HOME="$state_home" XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$config_home" \
+        XDG_DATA_HOME="$data_home" XDG_DATA_DIRS="$data_home" \
         qs -p "$harness" "$@"
 }
 
@@ -175,7 +181,11 @@ jq -e '
     } and
     .muted == { tracked: false, history: 0, popups: 0, unread: 0 } and
     .dnd == { tracked: true, history: 1, popups: 0, unread: 1 } and
-    .privacy == { visible: false, content: false }
+    .privacy == { visible: false, content: false } and
+    .fallback == {
+        id: "Fallback Terminal",
+        application: { id: "Fallback Terminal", name: "Fallback Terminal" }
+    }
 ' <<<"$exercise" >/dev/null || fail "runtime notification policy fixture failed: $exercise"
 
 persisted="$(qs_for_test ipc call notification-app-rules-test persist)"
@@ -194,10 +204,31 @@ for _ in $(seq 1 40); do
 done
 [[ -f "$settings_file" ]] || fail 'runtime persistence fixture did not write settings.json'
 
+wait_for_persisted_application() {
+    local expected="$1"
+    local applications=""
+    for _ in $(seq 1 80); do
+        applications="$(qs_for_test ipc call notification-app-rules-test applications)"
+        if jq -e '.[] | select(.id == "org.persist.App.desktop" and .name == "Persisted Fixture App")' \
+            <<<"$applications" >/dev/null; then
+            [[ "$applications" == *"$expected"* ]] && printf '%s' "$applications" && return
+        fi
+        sleep 0.1
+    done
+    fail "persisted desktop entry did not resolve to a friendly name: $applications"
+}
+
+before_restart_applications="$(wait_for_persisted_application 'Persisted Fixture App')"
+
 stop_harness
 start_harness
 restored="$(qs_for_test ipc call notification-app-rules-test restored)"
 [[ "$restored" == "$persisted" ]] || fail "notification rules did not survive isolated restart: $restored"
+after_restart_applications="$(wait_for_persisted_application 'Persisted Fixture App')"
+[[ "$before_restart_applications" == *'"id":"org.persist.App.desktop","name":"Persisted Fixture App"'* ]] \
+    || fail "persisted application name was wrong before restart: $before_restart_applications"
+[[ "$after_restart_applications" == *'"id":"org.persist.App.desktop","name":"Persisted Fixture App"'* ]] \
+    || fail "persisted application name was wrong after restart: $after_restart_applications"
 stop_harness
 
 printf 'notification application rules runtime contract: PASS\n'