diff --git a/scripts/cutefish_popups/contents/code/main.js b/scripts/cutefish_popups/contents/code/main.js
index 1f8cb4c..1d29b4a 100644
--- a/scripts/cutefish_popups/contents/code/main.js
+++ b/scripts/cutefish_popups/contents/code/main.js
@@ -17,11 +17,14 @@ var blocklist = [
     // The lock screen isn't a popup window.
     "kscreenlocker_greet kscreenlocker_greet",
     // KDE Plasma splash screen has to be animated only by the login effect.
-    "ksplashqml ksplashqml"
+    "ksplashqml ksplashqml",
+    // The shell's own surfaces: panels, the desktop and the launcher. The
+    // launcher used to be faded in here, back when it was its own process with
+    // its own window class; it animates itself now.
+    "cutefish-shell cutefish-shell"
 ];
 
 var allowlist = [
-    "cutefish-launcher cutefish-launcher",
     "cutefish-screenshot cutefish-screenshot"
 ];
 
diff --git a/scripts/cutefish_scale/contents/code/main.js b/scripts/cutefish_scale/contents/code/main.js
index c468ecf..34ed9e3 100644
--- a/scripts/cutefish_scale/contents/code/main.js
+++ b/scripts/cutefish_scale/contents/code/main.js
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ var blocklist = [
     "spectacle spectacle",
     "spectacle org.kde.spectacle",
 
-    "cutefish-launcher cutefish-launcher",
-    "cutefish-statusbar cutefish-statusbar",
+    // The status bar, the dock, the launcher and the desktop are one process
+    // and share this window class. None of them wants a scale animation: they
+    // are panels and overlays, and the launcher brings its own.
+    "cutefish-shell cutefish-shell",
     "cutefish-screenshot cutefish-screenshot"
 ];
 
diff --git a/scripts/cutefishlauncher/contents/code/main.js b/scripts/cutefishlauncher/contents/code/main.js
index 8d09285..4ed1b15 100644
--- a/scripts/cutefishlauncher/contents/code/main.js
+++ b/scripts/cutefishlauncher/contents/code/main.js
@@ -1,17 +1,54 @@
 "use strict";
 
+// KWin never lets an ordinary window grow past the work area, and since the
+// status bar and the dock now reserve work area on Wayland as well, the
+// launcher would come up as a screen-sized window trimmed by both struts. It is
+// a full-screen overlay, so it is forced back onto the whole screen area here.
+//
+// It stays an ordinary window on purpose: a real full-screen window would be
+// stacked above the dock, and the dock is meant to float on top of the
+// launcher. The status bar drops below it on its own while the launcher is up.
+
 function forceFullScreen(window) {
     var screenGeometry = workspace.clientArea(KWin.ScreenArea, window);
-    window.frameGeometry = screenGeometry;
+    if (window.frameGeometry.x !== screenGeometry.x
+            || window.frameGeometry.y !== screenGeometry.y
+            || window.frameGeometry.width !== screenGeometry.width
+            || window.frameGeometry.height !== screenGeometry.height) {
+        window.frameGeometry = screenGeometry;
+    }
+}
+
+function isLauncher(window) {
+    if (window.dialog) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // The status bar, the dock, the launcher and the desktop are one process
+    // since 0.9, so they all share a resource class and only the window title
+    // tells them apart. The standalone binary is still matched for older
+    // sessions.
+    if (window.resourceClass === "cutefish-shell") {
+        return window.caption === "Launcher";
+    }
+
+    return window.resourceClass === "cutefish-launcher"
+            && window.resourceName === "cutefish-launcher";
 }
 
 function setupConnection(window) {
-    if (window.resourceClass != "cutefish-launcher"
-            || window.resourceName != "cutefish-launcher" || window.dialog) {
+    if (!isLauncher(window)) {
         return;
     }
 
+    // Belt and braces for whichever open/close animation effect is enabled:
+    // the launcher is a full-screen overlay that animates its own contents, so
+    // having the compositor scale or fade the whole surface on top of that
+    // looks wrong. The scale and popup effects skip it by window class too.
+    window.skipsCloseAnimation = true;
+
     forceFullScreen(window);
+
     window.frameGeometryChanged.connect(function () {
         forceFullScreen(window);
     });