diff --git a/es-app/src/SystemData.cpp b/es-app/src/SystemData.cpp
index 69fb4184a..bb2541cb1 100644
--- a/es-app/src/SystemData.cpp
+++ b/es-app/src/SystemData.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "views/GamelistView.h"
 #include "views/ViewController.h"
 
+#include <SDL2/SDL_events.h>
 #include <SDL2/SDL_timer.h>
 
 #include <fstream>
@@ -537,9 +538,14 @@ bool SystemData::loadConfig()
 
         unsigned int lastTime {0};
         unsigned int accumulator {0};
+        SDL_Event event {};
 
         for (pugi::xml_node system {systemList.child("system")}; system;
              system = system.next_sibling("system")) {
+            // Parse events so that the OS doesn't think the application is hanging on startup,
+            // this is required as the main application loop hasn't started yet.
+            while (SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {};
+
             std::string name;
             std::string fullname;
             std::string sortName;
diff --git a/es-app/src/main.cpp b/es-app/src/main.cpp
index 3ff2ababc..07a06d2ed 100644
--- a/es-app/src/main.cpp
+++ b/es-app/src/main.cpp
@@ -685,15 +685,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     if (Settings::getInstance()->getBool("SplashScreen"))
         window->renderSplashScreen(Window::SplashScreenState::SCANNING, 0.0f);
 
-    InputManager::getInstance().parseEvent(event);
-    if (event.type == SDL_QUIT)
-        return 1;
-
-#if !defined(__APPLE__)
-    // This hides the mouse cursor during startup, i.e. before we have begun to capture SDL events.
-    // On macOS this causes the mouse cursor to jump back to the Dock so don't do it on this OS.
-    SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode(SDL_TRUE);
-#endif
+    while (SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {};
 
 #if defined(_WIN64)
     // Hide taskbar if the setting for this is enabled.
@@ -769,12 +761,6 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
                         .count()
                  << " ms";
 
-#if !defined(__APPLE__)
-    // Now that we've finished loading, disable the relative mouse mode or otherwise mouse
-    // input wouldn't work in any games that are launched.
-    SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode(SDL_FALSE);
-#endif
-
     // Main application loop.
 
 #if defined(__EMSCRIPTEN__)
diff --git a/es-app/src/views/ViewController.cpp b/es-app/src/views/ViewController.cpp
index 857a24e8d..9ab80b361 100644
--- a/es-app/src/views/ViewController.cpp
+++ b/es-app/src/views/ViewController.cpp
@@ -1112,9 +1112,14 @@ void ViewController::preload()
     float loadedSystems {0.0f};
     unsigned int lastTime {0};
     unsigned int accumulator {0};
+    SDL_Event event {};
 
     for (auto it = SystemData::sSystemVector.cbegin(); // Line break.
          it != SystemData::sSystemVector.cend(); ++it) {
+        // Parse events so that the OS doesn't think the application is hanging on startup,
+        // this is required as the main application loop hasn't started yet.
+        while (SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {};
+
         const std::string entryType {(*it)->isCustomCollection() ? "custom collection" : "system"};
         LOG(LogDebug) << "ViewController::preload(): Populating gamelist for " << entryType << " \""
                       << (*it)->getName() << "\"";