diff --git a/lib/liveWallpaper.js b/lib/liveWallpaper.js
index 6317ee9..8b67347 100644
--- a/lib/liveWallpaper.js
+++ b/lib/liveWallpaper.js
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
         this._upowerSignalId = 0;
 
         this._frameCount = 0;
-        this._newSampleCallCount = 0;
+        this._pollCount = 0;
+        this._pollTimeoutId = 0;
         this._noFrameWatchdogId = 0;
     }
 
@@ -154,7 +155,11 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
         }
 
         capsfilter.set_property('caps', Gst.Caps.from_string('video/x-raw,format=RGBA'));
-        appsink.set_property('emit-signals', true);
+        // emit-signals is deliberately left off: appsink's 'new-sample' fires
+        // from GStreamer's streaming thread, not gnome-shell's main thread,
+        // and a cross-thread call into the JS engine can be silently dropped
+        // rather than invoked. We poll with try_pull_sample() from a main
+        // thread GLib timer instead, which is safe to call from any thread.
         appsink.set_property('max-buffers', 2);
         appsink.set_property('drop', true);
         appsink.set_property('sync', true);
@@ -199,7 +204,6 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
             this._layoutActor();
 
             const sinkBin = this._buildSinkBin();
-            this._appsink.connect('new-sample', sink => this._onNewSample(sink));
 
             this._playbin = Gst.ElementFactory.make('playbin', 'benthicbloom-live-wallpaper');
             this._playbin.set_property('video-sink', sinkBin);
@@ -214,16 +218,20 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
             this._logger.debug(`playbin.set_state(PLAYING) returned ${stateChangeResult}`);
 
             this._frameCount = 0;
-            this._newSampleCallCount = 0;
+            this._pollCount = 0;
+            // ~30fps polling of the appsink from the main thread. See the
+            // comment on appsink's properties above for why this replaces
+            // a 'new-sample' signal handler.
+            this._pollTimeoutId = GLib.timeout_add(GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 33, () => this._pollForSample());
+
             this._noFrameWatchdogId = GLib.timeout_add_seconds(GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 4, () => {
                 this._noFrameWatchdogId = 0;
                 if (this._active && this._frameCount === 0) {
                     this._logger.warn(
                         `Live wallpaper: no frames received 4s after starting playback ` +
-                        `(new-sample signal fired ${this._newSampleCallCount} times). ` +
-                        'If that count is 0, the signal itself never fired (check for a stalled ' +
-                        'pipeline above); if it is nonzero, pull_sample()/buffer processing is failing ' +
-                        '— check for a "Failed to process live wallpaper frame" error above.');
+                        `(polled appsink ${this._pollCount} times). If that count is 0, the poll timer ` +
+                        'itself never ran; if it is nonzero, try_pull_sample() keeps returning nothing ' +
+                        '— check for a "Failed to poll live wallpaper frame" error above.');
                 }
                 return GLib.SOURCE_REMOVE;
             });
@@ -238,18 +246,19 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
         }
     }
 
-    _onNewSample(sink) {
+    _pollForSample() {
+        if (!this._appsink)
+            return GLib.SOURCE_REMOVE;
+
         const Gst = this._Gst;
-        this._newSampleCallCount = (this._newSampleCallCount ?? 0) + 1;
-        if (this._newSampleCallCount === 1)
-            this._logger.debug('Live wallpaper: new-sample signal fired for the first time');
+        this._pollCount++;
+        if (this._pollCount === 1)
+            this._logger.debug('Live wallpaper: appsink polling started');
 
         try {
-            const sample = sink.pull_sample();
-            if (!sample) {
-                this._logger.debug('Live wallpaper: pull_sample() returned no sample');
-                return Gst.FlowReturn.OK;
-            }
+            const sample = this._appsink.try_pull_sample(0);
+            if (!sample)
+                return GLib.SOURCE_CONTINUE;
 
             const buffer = sample.get_buffer();
             const structure = sample.get_caps().get_structure(0);
@@ -259,7 +268,7 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
             const [ok, mapInfo] = buffer.map(Gst.MapFlags.READ);
             if (!ok) {
                 this._logger.debug('Live wallpaper: buffer.map() failed');
-                return Gst.FlowReturn.OK;
+                return GLib.SOURCE_CONTINUE;
             }
 
             try {
@@ -273,10 +282,10 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
                 buffer.unmap(mapInfo);
             }
         } catch (e) {
-            this._logger.error(e, 'Failed to process live wallpaper frame (new-sample handler)');
+            this._logger.error(e, 'Failed to poll live wallpaper frame');
         }
 
-        return Gst.FlowReturn.OK;
+        return GLib.SOURCE_CONTINUE;
     }
 
     _updateFrame(data, width, height) {
@@ -431,6 +440,11 @@ export class LiveWallpaperManager {
             this._noFrameWatchdogId = 0;
         }
 
+        if (this._pollTimeoutId) {
+            GLib.source_remove(this._pollTimeoutId);
+            this._pollTimeoutId = 0;
+        }
+
         if (this._playbin) {
             const Gst = this._Gst;
             const bus = this._playbin.get_bus();