diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/application.zig b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/application.zig
index becfac14a..d8b795f4d 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/application.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/application.zig
@@ -886,10 +886,10 @@ pub const Application = extern struct {
         self.syncActionAccelerator("win.reset", .{ .reset = {} });
         self.syncActionAccelerator("win.clear", .{ .clear_screen = {} });
         self.syncActionAccelerator("win.prompt-title", .{ .prompt_surface_title = {} });
-        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-left", .{ .new_split = .left });
-        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-right", .{ .new_split = .right });
-        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-up", .{ .new_split = .up });
-        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-down", .{ .new_split = .down });
+        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-split::left", .{ .new_split = .left });
+        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-split::right", .{ .new_split = .right });
+        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-split::up", .{ .new_split = .up });
+        self.syncActionAccelerator("split-tree.new-split::down", .{ .new_split = .down });
     }
 
     fn syncActionAccelerator(
@@ -1814,12 +1814,12 @@ const Action = struct {
 
             .surface => |core| {
                 const surface = core.rt_surface.surface;
-                return surface.as(gtk.Widget).activateAction(switch (direction) {
-                    .right => "split-tree.new-right",
-                    .left => "split-tree.new-left",
-                    .down => "split-tree.new-down",
-                    .up => "split-tree.new-up",
-                }, null) != 0;
+
+                return surface.as(gtk.Widget).activateAction(
+                    "split-tree.new-split",
+                    "&s",
+                    @tagName(direction).ptr,
+                ) != 0;
             },
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/split_tree.zig b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/split_tree.zig
index 1da0896a2..a5e823158 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/split_tree.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/class/split_tree.zig
@@ -175,16 +175,16 @@ pub const SplitTree = extern struct {
         //
         // For action names:
         // https://docs.gtk.org/gio/type_func.Action.name_is_valid.html
-        const actions = .{
+        const actions: []const struct {
+            [:0]const u8,
+            *const fn (*gio.SimpleAction, ?*glib.Variant, *Self) callconv(.c) void,
+            ?*glib.VariantType,
+        } = &.{
             // All of these will eventually take a target surface parameter.
             // For now all our targets originate from the focused surface.
-            .{ "new-left", actionNewLeft, null },
-            .{ "new-right", actionNewRight, null },
-            .{ "new-up", actionNewUp, null },
-            .{ "new-down", actionNewDown, null },
-
-            .{ "equalize", actionEqualize, null },
-            .{ "zoom", actionZoom, null },
+            .{ "new-split", &actionNewSplit, glib.ext.VariantType.newFor([:0]const u8) },
+            .{ "equalize", &actionEqualize, null },
+            .{ "zoom", &actionZoom, null },
         };
 
         // We need to collect our actions into a group since we're just
@@ -192,12 +192,16 @@ pub const SplitTree = extern struct {
         const group = gio.SimpleActionGroup.new();
         errdefer group.unref();
         const map = group.as(gio.ActionMap);
-        inline for (actions) |entry| {
+        for (actions) |entry| {
             const action = gio.SimpleAction.new(
                 entry[0],
                 entry[2],
             );
-            defer action.unref();
+            defer {
+                action.unref();
+                if (entry[2]) |ptype| ptype.free();
+            }
+
             _ = gio.SimpleAction.signals.activate.connect(
                 action,
                 *Self,
@@ -567,56 +571,30 @@ pub const SplitTree = extern struct {
     //---------------------------------------------------------------
     // Signal handlers
 
-    pub fn actionNewLeft(
+    pub fn actionNewSplit(
         _: *gio.SimpleAction,
-        parameter_: ?*glib.Variant,
+        args_: ?*glib.Variant,
         self: *Self,
     ) callconv(.c) void {
-        _ = parameter_;
-        self.newSplit(
-            .left,
-            self.getActiveSurface(),
-        ) catch |err| {
-            log.warn("new split failed error={}", .{err});
+        const args = args_ orelse {
+            log.warn("split-tree.new-split called without a parameter", .{});
+            return;
         };
-    }
 
-    pub fn actionNewRight(
-        _: *gio.SimpleAction,
-        parameter_: ?*glib.Variant,
-        self: *Self,
-    ) callconv(.c) void {
-        _ = parameter_;
-        self.newSplit(
-            .right,
-            self.getActiveSurface(),
-        ) catch |err| {
-            log.warn("new split failed error={}", .{err});
+        var dir: ?[*:0]const u8 = null;
+        args.get("&s", &dir);
+
+        const direction = std.meta.stringToEnum(
+            Surface.Tree.Split.Direction,
+            std.mem.span(dir) orelse return,
+        ) orelse {
+            // Need to be defensive here since actions can be triggered externally.
+            log.warn("invalid split direction for split-tree.new-split: {s}", .{dir.?});
+            return;
         };
-    }
 
-    pub fn actionNewUp(
-        _: *gio.SimpleAction,
-        parameter_: ?*glib.Variant,
-        self: *Self,
-    ) callconv(.c) void {
-        _ = parameter_;
         self.newSplit(
-            .up,
-            self.getActiveSurface(),
-        ) catch |err| {
-            log.warn("new split failed error={}", .{err});
-        };
-    }
-
-    pub fn actionNewDown(
-        _: *gio.SimpleAction,
-        parameter_: ?*glib.Variant,
-        self: *Self,
-    ) callconv(.c) void {
-        _ = parameter_;
-        self.newSplit(
-            .down,
+            direction,
             self.getActiveSurface(),
         ) catch |err| {
             log.warn("new split failed error={}", .{err});
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/ui/1.2/surface.blp b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/ui/1.2/surface.blp
index 97fc7483b..98f4f5dd2 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk-ng/ui/1.2/surface.blp
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk-ng/ui/1.2/surface.blp
@@ -194,22 +194,26 @@ menu context_menu_model {
 
       item {
         label: _("Split Up");
-        action: "split-tree.new-up";
+        action: "split-tree.new-split";
+        target: "up";
       }
 
       item {
         label: _("Split Down");
-        action: "split-tree.new-down";
+        action: "split-tree.new-split";
+        target: "down";
       }
 
       item {
         label: _("Split Left");
-        action: "split-tree.new-left";
+        action: "split-tree.new-split";
+        target: "left";
       }
 
       item {
         label: _("Split Right");
-        action: "split-tree.new-right";
+        action: "split-tree.new-split";
+        target: "right";
       }
     }