diff --git a/es-core/src/InputManager.cpp b/es-core/src/InputManager.cpp
index 5795f762d..9437b7a4f 100644
--- a/es-core/src/InputManager.cpp
+++ b/es-core/src/InputManager.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "InputManager.h"
 #include "InputConfig.h"
+#include "Settings.h"
 #include "Window.h"
 #include "Log.h"
 #include "pugixml/pugixml.hpp"
@@ -45,6 +46,9 @@ void InputManager::init()
 	if(initialized())
 		deinit();
 
+	if (Settings::getInstance()->getBool("BackgroundJoystickInput")){
+		SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_JOYSTICK_ALLOW_BACKGROUND_EVENTS, "1");
+	}
 	SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_JOYSTICK);
 	SDL_JoystickEventState(SDL_ENABLE);
 
diff --git a/es-core/src/Settings.cpp b/es-core/src/Settings.cpp
index 60352d949..779ee7142 100644
--- a/es-core/src/Settings.cpp
+++ b/es-core/src/Settings.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void Settings::setDefaults()
 	mBoolMap.clear();
 	mIntMap.clear();
 
+	mBoolMap["BackgroundJoystickInput"] = false;
 	mBoolMap["ParseGamelistOnly"] = false;
 	mBoolMap["DrawFramerate"] = false;
 	mBoolMap["ShowExit"] = true;