diff --git a/src/pc/pc_main.c b/src/pc/pc_main.c
index 4be0ccc1..b58be411 100644
--- a/src/pc/pc_main.c
+++ b/src/pc/pc_main.c
@@ -313,8 +313,6 @@ void *main_game_init(void*) {
     bassh_init();
     network_player_init();
 
-    thread5_game_loop(NULL);
-
 #ifdef EXTERNAL_DATA
     // precache data if needed
     if (configPrecacheRes) {
@@ -348,6 +346,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     }
     pthread_mutex_destroy(&gLoadingThreadMutex);
 
+    // initialize sm64 data and controllers
+    thread5_game_loop(NULL);
+
     // Initialize djui
     djui_init();
     djui_unicode_init();