diff --git a/kitty/desktop.c b/kitty/desktop.c
index 4a0939cf7..762835309 100644
--- a/kitty/desktop.c
+++ b/kitty/desktop.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
  */
 
-#include "data-types.h"
+#include "state.h"
 #include "safe-wrappers.h"
 #include "cleanup.h"
 #include "loop-utils.h"
@@ -249,9 +249,10 @@ play_canberra_sound(const char *which_sound, const char *event_id, bool is_path,
 }
 
 static PyObject*
-play_desktop_sound(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args, PyObject *kw) {
+play_desktop_sound_async(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args, PyObject *kw) {
     const char *which, *event_id = "test sound";
-    const char *theme_name = "freedesktop";
+    const char *theme_name = OPT(bell_theme);
+    if (!theme_name || !theme_name[0]) theme_name = "__custom";
     int is_path = 0;
     static const char* kwlist[] = {"sound_name", "event_id", "is_path", "theme_name", NULL};
     if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kw, "s|sps", (char**)kwlist, &which, &event_id, &is_path, &theme_name)) return NULL;
@@ -277,7 +278,7 @@ finalize(void) {
 static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
     METHODB(init_x11_startup_notification, METH_VARARGS),
     METHODB(end_x11_startup_notification, METH_VARARGS),
-    {"play_desktop_sound", (PyCFunction)(void(*)(void))play_desktop_sound, METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, ""},
+    {"play_desktop_sound_async", (PyCFunction)(void(*)(void))play_desktop_sound_async, METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, ""},
 
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}        /* Sentinel */
 };
diff --git a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
index e6d2f13b5..cc5591440 100644
--- a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
+++ b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
@@ -556,6 +556,7 @@ def dbus_send_notification(
     urgency: int = 1,
     replaces: int = 0,
     category: str = '',
+    muted: bool = False,
 ) -> int:
     pass
 
@@ -572,6 +573,7 @@ def cocoa_send_notification(
     categories: tuple[MacOSNotificationCategory, ...],
     image_path: str = '',
     urgency: int = 1,
+    muted: bool = False,
 ) -> None:
     pass
 
@@ -1699,6 +1701,7 @@ def monotonic() -> float: ...
 def timed_debug_print(x: str) -> None: ...
 def opengl_version_string() -> str: ...
 def systemd_move_pid_into_new_scope(pid: int, scope_name: str, description: str) -> str: ...
+def play_desktop_sound_async(name: str, event_id: str = 'test sound', is_path: bool = False, theme_name: str = '') -> str: ...
 
 class MousePosition(TypedDict):
     cell_x: int
diff --git a/kitty/options/definition.py b/kitty/options/definition.py
index 925f9fc58..7aa391ebe 100644
--- a/kitty/options/definition.py
+++ b/kitty/options/definition.py
@@ -963,7 +963,9 @@
 opt('linux_bell_theme', '__custom', ctype='!bell_theme',
     long_text='''
 The XDG Sound Theme kitty will use to play the bell sound.
-Defaults to the custom theme name used by GNOME and Budgie, falling back to the default freedesktop theme if it does not exist.
+Defaults to the custom theme name specified in the
+:link:`XDG Sound theme specification <https://specifications.freedesktop.org/sound-theme-spec/latest/sound_lookup.html>,
+falling back to the default freedesktop theme if it does not exist.
 To change your sound theme desktop wide, create :file:`~/.local/share/sounds/__custom/index.theme` with the contents:
 
     [Sound Theme]