diff --git a/include/atoms.xmacro b/include/atoms.xmacro
index 41889eb1..e6e72e74 100644
--- a/include/atoms.xmacro
+++ b/include/atoms.xmacro
@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ xmacro(I3_SHMLOG_PATH)
 xmacro(I3_PID)
 xmacro(_NET_REQUEST_FRAME_EXTENTS)
 xmacro(_NET_FRAME_EXTENTS)
+xmacro(_MOTIF_WM_HINTS)
diff --git a/include/window.h b/include/window.h
index 23a8d69c..480cee18 100644
--- a/include/window.h
+++ b/include/window.h
@@ -61,3 +61,17 @@ void window_update_role(i3Window *win, xcb_get_property_reply_t *prop, bool befo
  *
  */
 void window_update_hints(i3Window *win, xcb_get_property_reply_t *prop, bool *urgency_hint);
+
+/**
+ * Updates the MOTIF_WM_HINTS. The container's border style should be set to
+ * `motif_border_style' if border style is not BS_NORMAL.
+ *
+ * i3 only uses this hint when it specifies a window should have no
+ * title bar, or no decorations at all, which is how most window managers
+ * handle it.
+ *
+ * The EWMH spec intended to replace Motif hints with _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE, but
+ * it is still in use by popular widget toolkits such as GTK+ and Java AWT.
+ *
+ */
+void window_update_motif_hints(i3Window *win, xcb_get_property_reply_t *prop, border_style_t *motif_border_style);
diff --git a/src/manage.c b/src/manage.c
index 54203718..d84ba1b2 100644
--- a/src/manage.c
+++ b/src/manage.c
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ void manage_window(xcb_window_t window, xcb_get_window_attributes_cookie_t cooki
     xcb_get_property_cookie_t wm_type_cookie, strut_cookie, state_cookie,
                               utf8_title_cookie, title_cookie,
                               class_cookie, leader_cookie, transient_cookie,
-                              role_cookie, startup_id_cookie, wm_hints_cookie;
+                              role_cookie, startup_id_cookie, wm_hints_cookie,
+                              motif_wm_hints_cookie;
 
 
     geomc = xcb_get_geometry(conn, d);
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ void manage_window(xcb_window_t window, xcb_get_window_attributes_cookie_t cooki
     role_cookie = GET_PROPERTY(A_WM_WINDOW_ROLE, 128);
     startup_id_cookie = GET_PROPERTY(A__NET_STARTUP_ID, 512);
     wm_hints_cookie = xcb_icccm_get_wm_hints(conn, window);
+    motif_wm_hints_cookie = GET_PROPERTY(A__MOTIF_WM_HINTS, 5 * sizeof(uint64_t));
     /* TODO: also get wm_normal_hints here. implement after we got rid of xcb-event */
 
     DLOG("Managing window 0x%08x\n", window);
@@ -222,6 +224,8 @@ void manage_window(xcb_window_t window, xcb_get_window_attributes_cookie_t cooki
     window_update_role(cwindow, xcb_get_property_reply(conn, role_cookie, NULL), true);
     bool urgency_hint;
     window_update_hints(cwindow, xcb_get_property_reply(conn, wm_hints_cookie, NULL), &urgency_hint);
+    border_style_t motif_border_style = BS_NORMAL;
+    window_update_motif_hints(cwindow, xcb_get_property_reply(conn, motif_wm_hints_cookie, NULL), &motif_border_style);
 
     xcb_get_property_reply_t *startup_id_reply;
     startup_id_reply = xcb_get_property_reply(conn, startup_id_cookie, NULL);
@@ -444,6 +448,11 @@ void manage_window(xcb_window_t window, xcb_get_window_attributes_cookie_t cooki
         floating_enable(nc, true);
     }
 
+    if (motif_border_style != BS_NORMAL) {
+        DLOG("MOTIF_WM_HINTS specifies decorations (border_style = %d)\n", motif_border_style);
+        con_set_border_style(nc, motif_border_style, config.default_border_width);
+    }
+
     /* to avoid getting an UnmapNotify event due to reparenting, we temporarily
      * declare no interest in any state change event of this window */
     values[0] = XCB_NONE;
diff --git a/src/window.c b/src/window.c
index 219e64ce..c3a35cf8 100644
--- a/src/window.c
+++ b/src/window.c
@@ -254,3 +254,59 @@ void window_update_hints(i3Window *win, xcb_get_property_reply_t *prop, bool *ur
 
     free(prop);
 }
+
+/*
+ * Updates the MOTIF_WM_HINTS. The container's border style should be set to
+ * `motif_border_style' if border style is not BS_NORMAL.
+ *
+ * i3 only uses this hint when it specifies a window should have no
+ * title bar, or no decorations at all, which is how most window managers
+ * handle it.
+ *
+ * The EWMH spec intended to replace Motif hints with _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE, but
+ * it is still in use by popular widget toolkits such as GTK+ and Java AWT.
+ *
+ */
+void window_update_motif_hints(i3Window *win, xcb_get_property_reply_t *prop, border_style_t *motif_border_style) {
+    /* This implementation simply mirrors Gnome's Metacity. Official
+     * documentation of this hint is nowhere to be found.
+     * For more information see:
+     * https://people.gnome.org/~tthurman/docs/metacity/xprops_8h-source.html
+     * http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13787553/detect-if-a-x11-window-has-decorations
+     */
+#define MWM_HINTS_DECORATIONS   (1 << 1)
+#define MWM_DECOR_ALL           (1 << 0)
+#define MWM_DECOR_BORDER        (1 << 1)
+#define MWM_DECOR_TITLE         (1 << 3)
+
+    if (motif_border_style != NULL)
+        *motif_border_style = BS_NORMAL;
+
+    if (prop == NULL || xcb_get_property_value_length(prop) == 0) {
+        FREE(prop);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* The property consists of an array of 5 uint64_t's. The first value is a bit
+     * mask of what properties the hint will specify. We are only interested in
+     * MWM_HINTS_DECORATIONS because it indicates that the second value of the
+     * array tells us which decorations the window should have, each flag being
+     * a particular decoration. */
+    uint64_t *motif_hints = (uint64_t *)xcb_get_property_value(prop);
+
+    if (motif_border_style != NULL && motif_hints[0] & MWM_HINTS_DECORATIONS) {
+        if (motif_hints[1] & MWM_DECOR_ALL || motif_hints[1] & MWM_DECOR_TITLE)
+            *motif_border_style = BS_NORMAL;
+        else if (motif_hints[1] & MWM_DECOR_BORDER)
+            *motif_border_style = BS_PIXEL;
+        else
+            *motif_border_style = BS_NONE;
+    }
+
+    FREE(prop);
+
+#undef MWM_HINTS_DECORATIONS
+#undef MWM_DECOR_ALL
+#undef MWM_DECOR_BORDER
+#undef MWM_DECOR_TITLE
+}