diff --git a/ui/sdl2.c b/ui/sdl2.c
index 35c58c1104..b12dec4caf 100644
--- a/ui/sdl2.c
+++ b/ui/sdl2.c
@@ -843,22 +843,6 @@ static void sdl2_display_init(DisplayState *ds, DisplayOptions *o)
 
     assert(o->type == DISPLAY_TYPE_SDL);
 
-#ifdef __linux__
-    /* on Linux, SDL may use fbcon|directfb|svgalib when run without
-     * accessible $DISPLAY to open X11 window.  This is often the case
-     * when qemu is run using sudo.  But in this case, and when actually
-     * run in X11 environment, SDL fights with X11 for the video card,
-     * making current display unavailable, often until reboot.
-     * So make x11 the default SDL video driver if this variable is unset.
-     * This is a bit hackish but saves us from bigger problem.
-     * Maybe it's a good idea to fix this in SDL instead.
-     */
-    if (!g_setenv("SDL_VIDEODRIVER", "x11", 0)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Could not set SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable\n");
-        exit(1);
-    }
-#endif
-
     if (SDL_GetHintBoolean("QEMU_ENABLE_SDL_LOGGING", SDL_FALSE)) {
         SDL_LogSetAllPriority(SDL_LOG_PRIORITY_VERBOSE);
     }