diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow.h b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow.h
index 7a166aa125..faa6144946 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 class LoadingWindow
 {
 public:
+	virtual CString Init() { return ""; }
 	virtual ~LoadingWindow() { }
 
 	virtual void Paint() = 0;
diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.cpp b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.cpp
index 3940574c2a..1afac13d4e 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "RageLog.h"
 #include "StepMania.h"
 #include "RageFileManager.h"
+#include "RageUtil.h"
 #include "LoadingWindow_Gtk.h"
 #include "LoadingWindow_GtkModule.h"
 
@@ -14,39 +15,40 @@ static SETTEXT Module_SetText;
 
 LoadingWindow_Gtk::LoadingWindow_Gtk()
 {
-try {
+}
+
+CString LoadingWindow_Gtk::Init()
+{
 	ASSERT( Handle == NULL );
 	
 	Handle = dlopen( DirOfExecutable + "/" + "GtkModule.so", RTLD_NOW );
 	if( Handle == NULL )
-		RageException::ThrowNonfatal("dlopen(): %s", dlerror());
+		return ssprintf( "dlopen(): %s", dlerror() );
 
 	Module_Init = (INIT) dlsym(Handle, "Init");
 	if( !Module_Init )
-		RageException::ThrowNonfatal( "Couldn't load symbol Module_Init" );
+		return "Couldn't load symbol Module_Init";
 	Module_Shutdown = (SHUTDOWN) dlsym(Handle, "Shutdown");
 	if( !Module_Shutdown )
-		RageException::ThrowNonfatal( "Couldn't load symbol Module_Shutdown" );
+		return "Couldn't load symbol Module_Shutdown";
 	Module_SetText = (SETTEXT) dlsym(Handle, "SetText");
 	if( !Module_SetText )
-		RageException::ThrowNonfatal( "Couldn't load symbol Module_SetText" );
+		return "Couldn't load symbol Module_SetText";
 
 	const char *ret = Module_Init( &g_argc, &g_argv );
 	if( ret != NULL )
-		RageException::ThrowNonfatal( ret );
-} catch(...) {
-	if( Handle )
-		dlclose( Handle );
-	Handle = NULL;
-	throw;
-}
+		return ret;
+	return "";
 }
 
 LoadingWindow_Gtk::~LoadingWindow_Gtk()
 {
-	Module_Shutdown();
+	if( Module_Shutdown != NULL )
+		Module_Shutdown();
+	Module_Shutdown = NULL;
 
-	dlclose( Handle );
+	if( Handle )
+		dlclose( Handle );
 	Handle = NULL;
 }
 
diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.h b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.h
index 66922ef43c..66c3d829ee 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/LoadingWindow/LoadingWindow_Gtk.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class LoadingWindow_Gtk: public LoadingWindow
 {
 public:
 	LoadingWindow_Gtk();
+	CString Init();
 	~LoadingWindow_Gtk();
 
 	void SetText(CString str);
diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
index c79f5fa160..e31016d148 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
@@ -32,26 +32,32 @@ LoadingWindow *MakeLoadingWindow()
 
 	for(unsigned i = 0; ret == NULL && i < DriversToTry.size(); ++i)
 	{
-		try {
-			Driver = DriversToTry[i];
+		Driver = DriversToTry[i];
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LOADING_WINDOW_WIN32
-			if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Win32")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Win32;
+		if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Win32")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Win32;
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_LOADING_WINDOW_GTK
-			if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Gtk")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Gtk;
+		if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Gtk")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Gtk;
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_LOADING_WINDOW_COCOA
-			if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Cocoa")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Cocoa;
+		if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Cocoa")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Cocoa;
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_LOADING_WINDOW_SDL
-			if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("SDL")) ret = new LoadingWindow_SDL;
+		if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("SDL")) ret = new LoadingWindow_SDL;
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_LOADING_WINDOW_NULL
-			if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Null")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Null;
+		if(!DriversToTry[i].CompareNoCase("Null")) ret = new LoadingWindow_Null;
 #endif
-		} catch(const RageException &e) {
-			LOG->Info("Couldn't load driver %s: %s", DriversToTry[i].c_str(), e.what());
+			
+		if( ret == NULL )
+			continue;
+
+		CString sError = ret->Init();
+		if( sError != "" )
+		{
+			LOG->Info("Couldn't load driver %s: %s", DriversToTry[i].c_str(), sError.c_str());
+			SAFE_DELETE( ret );
 		}
 	}