diff --git a/modules/desktop/themes/catppuccin/default.nix b/modules/desktop/themes/catppuccin/default.nix
index 42ac2a6..646f6d5 100644
--- a/modules/desktop/themes/catppuccin/default.nix
+++ b/modules/desktop/themes/catppuccin/default.nix
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ in {
         };
       };
 
+      qtctTheme = {
+        name = "catppuccin-${variant}-${accent}";
+        package = pkgs.catppuccin-qt5ct;
+      };
+
       iconTheme = {
         name = "WhiteSur-${darkString}";
         package = pkgs.whitesur-icon-theme;
diff --git a/modules/desktop/themes/default.nix b/modules/desktop/themes/default.nix
index b155dc9..34a6b30 100644
--- a/modules/desktop/themes/default.nix
+++ b/modules/desktop/themes/default.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ in {
       name = mkOpt (nullOr str) null;
       package = mkOpt (nullOr package) null;
     };
+    qtctTheme = {
+      name = mkOpt (nullOr str) null;
+      package = mkOpt (nullOr package) null;
+    };
     iconTheme = {
       name = mkOpt (nullOr str) null;
       package = mkOpt (nullOr package) null;
@@ -176,25 +180,27 @@ in {
     };
 
     hm.xdg.configFile = let
-      iniFmt = pkgs.formats.ini {};
-
       # souls are forged in the fires of hell
       mkQtctConf = version: let
         zeroCount = if version == 5 then 5 else if version == 6 then 10 else builtins.throw "invalid qtct version";
         zeros = builtins.concatStringsSep "," (builtins.genList (_: "0") zeroCount);
         weight = if version == 5 then 50 else if version == 6 then 400 else builtins.throw "invalid qtct version";
-      in {
+      in builtins.concatStringsSep "\n" ([ (lib.generators.toINI {} {
         Appearance = {
           icon_theme = cfg.iconTheme.name;
+          custom_palette = cfg.qtctTheme.name != null;
+          style = "kvantum"; # do this unconditionally, fixes qt5ct/qt6ct config uis
           standard_dialogs = "xdgdesktopportal";
-          style = "kvantum"; # its ok if this is always the case, override it anyway
         };
 
         Fonts = with config.modules.desktop.fonts.fonts; {
           general = ''"${sansSerif.family},${toString sansSerif.size},-1,5,${toString weight},${zeros},1"'';
           fixed = ''"${monospace.family},-1,${toString monospace.size},5,${toString weight},${zeros},1"'';
         };
-      };
+
+        # this could technically be under a completely different path
+        # whatever. works ok
+      }) ] ++ lib.optional (cfg.qtctTheme.name != null) (builtins.readFile "${cfg.qtctTheme.package}/share/qt${builtins.toString version}ct/colors/${cfg.qtctTheme.name}.conf"));
     in mkMerge [
       {
         # technically could cause issues with KDE if we use that
@@ -204,8 +210,8 @@ in {
           Theme=${cfg.iconTheme.name}
         '';
 
-        "qt5ct/qt5ct.conf".source = iniFmt.generate "qt5ct.conf" (mkQtctConf 5);
-        "qt6ct/qt6ct.conf".source = iniFmt.generate "qt6ct.conf" (mkQtctConf 6);
+        "qt5ct/qt5ct.conf".text = mkQtctConf 5;
+        "qt6ct/qt6ct.conf".text = mkQtctConf 6;
       }
       (mkIf (cfg.kvantumTheme.name != null) {
         "Kvantum/${cfg.kvantumTheme.name}".source = "${cfg.kvantumTheme.package}/share/Kvantum/${cfg.kvantumTheme.name}";