diff --git a/src/vocalinux/text_injection/ibus_engine.py b/src/vocalinux/text_injection/ibus_engine.py
index 72f3cd8..4b5c2e0 100644
--- a/src/vocalinux/text_injection/ibus_engine.py
+++ b/src/vocalinux/text_injection/ibus_engine.py
@@ -111,6 +111,28 @@ def is_ibus_available() -> bool:
     return IBUS_AVAILABLE
 
 
+def is_ibus_daemon_running() -> bool:
+    """
+    Check if the IBus daemon (ibus-daemon) is currently running.
+
+    This is important because on some desktop environments (e.g., Fedora KDE),
+    the IBus daemon is not started by default. Attempting to set up IBus
+    when the daemon isn't running will fail.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if ibus-daemon is running, False otherwise
+    """
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            ["pgrep", "-x", "ibus-daemon"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            timeout=2,
+        )
+        return result.returncode == 0
+    except (subprocess.SubprocessError, FileNotFoundError):
+        return False
+
+
 def _get_expected_component_xml() -> str:
     """Generate the expected component XML content for the current installation."""
     engine_script = Path(__file__).resolve()
diff --git a/src/vocalinux/text_injection/text_injector.py b/src/vocalinux/text_injection/text_injector.py
index bc12033..c6c99ab 100644
--- a/src/vocalinux/text_injection/text_injector.py
+++ b/src/vocalinux/text_injection/text_injector.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from typing import Optional  # noqa: F401
 from .ibus_engine import (
     IBusTextInjector,
     is_ibus_available,
+    is_ibus_daemon_running,
 )
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -134,18 +135,26 @@ class TextInjector:
         # Prefer IBus on both X11 and Wayland - it sends Unicode directly,
         # bypassing keyboard layout issues entirely
         if is_ibus_available():
-            try:
-                self._ibus_injector = IBusTextInjector(auto_activate=True)
-                if self.environment == DesktopEnvironment.X11:
-                    self.environment = DesktopEnvironment.X11_IBUS
-                else:
-                    self.environment = DesktopEnvironment.WAYLAND_IBUS
+            # Check if ibus-daemon is running before attempting setup
+            if not is_ibus_daemon_running():
                 logger.info(
-                    f"Using IBus for {self.environment.value} text injection (best compatibility)"
+                    "IBus daemon not running. This is normal on some desktop environments "
+                    "(e.g., KDE Plasma). Using alternative text injection method. "
+                    "For IBus setup, see: https://github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux/wiki/IBus-Setup"
                 )
-                return
-            except Exception as e:
-                logger.warning(f"IBus initialization failed: {e}, trying alternatives")
+            else:
+                try:
+                    self._ibus_injector = IBusTextInjector(auto_activate=True)
+                    if self.environment == DesktopEnvironment.X11:
+                        self.environment = DesktopEnvironment.X11_IBUS
+                    else:
+                        self.environment = DesktopEnvironment.WAYLAND_IBUS
+                    logger.info(
+                        f"Using IBus for {self.environment.value} text injection (best compatibility)"
+                    )
+                    return
+                except Exception as e:
+                    logger.warning(f"IBus initialization failed: {e}, trying alternatives")
 
         if self.environment == DesktopEnvironment.X11:
             # Check for xdotool