diff --git a/src/utils/ui.c b/src/utils/ui.c
index 975a0df1cf..0ae00c0c97 100644
--- a/src/utils/ui.c
+++ b/src/utils/ui.c
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ bool ui_message_box_show(struct ui *ui, struct x_connection *c,
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	const char filter_name[] = "nearest";
+	const char filter_name[] = "bilinear";
 	if (!XCB_AWAIT_VOID(xcb_render_set_picture_filter, c->c, content_picture,
 	                    ARR_SIZE(filter_name) - 1, filter_name, 0, NULL)) {
 		return false;