diff --git a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
index 40d791b314..f482cdd541 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ PrefsManager::PrefsManager()
 	m_bTimestamping = false;
 	m_bLogSkips = false;
 	m_bLogCheckpoints = false;
+	m_bShowLoadingWindow = true;
 
 	for( int p=0; p<NUM_PLAYERS; p++ )
 	{
@@ -505,6 +506,7 @@ void PrefsManager::ReadGlobalPrefsFromDisk()
 	ini.GetValue( "Debug", "Timestamping",						m_bTimestamping );
 	ini.GetValue( "Debug", "LogSkips",							m_bLogSkips );
 	ini.GetValue( "Debug", "LogCheckpoints",					m_bLogCheckpoints );
+	ini.GetValue( "Debug", "ShowLoadingWindow",					m_bShowLoadingWindow );
 }
 
 void PrefsManager::SaveGlobalPrefsToDisk() const
@@ -725,6 +727,7 @@ void PrefsManager::SaveGlobalPrefsToDisk() const
 	ini.SetValue( "Debug", "Timestamping",						m_bTimestamping );
 	ini.SetValue( "Debug", "LogSkips",							m_bLogSkips );
 	ini.SetValue( "Debug", "LogCheckpoints",					m_bLogCheckpoints );
+	ini.SetValue( "Debug", "ShowLoadingWindow",					m_bShowLoadingWindow );
 
 	ini.WriteFile();
 }
diff --git a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
index c3ad214f64..cdd7223ec5 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ public:
 	bool			m_bTimestamping;
 	bool			m_bLogSkips;
 	bool			m_bLogCheckpoints;
+	bool			m_bShowLoadingWindow;
 
 	/* Game-specific prefs: */
 	CString			m_sDefaultModifiers;
diff --git a/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp b/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
index 9261057941..12cb276a56 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/StepMania.cpp
@@ -897,17 +897,6 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	 * We use our own error handlers. */
 	SDL_Init( SDL_INIT_NOPARACHUTE );
 
-	LoadingWindow *loading_window = MakeLoadingWindow();
-	if( loading_window == NULL )
-	{
-		LOG->Trace("Couldn't open any loading windows.");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
-	loading_window->Paint();
-
-	srand( time(NULL) );	// seed number generator	
-	
 	//
 	// Create game objects
 	//
@@ -920,6 +909,19 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	LOG->SetTimestamping( PREFSMAN->m_bTimestamping );
 	Checkpoints::LogCheckpoints( PREFSMAN->m_bLogCheckpoints );
 
+
+	/* This requires PREFSMAN, for PREFSMAN->m_bShowLoadingWindow. */
+	LoadingWindow *loading_window = MakeLoadingWindow();
+	if( loading_window == NULL )
+	{
+		LOG->Trace("Couldn't open any loading windows.");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	loading_window->Paint();
+
+	srand( time(NULL) );	// seed number generator	
+	
 	CheckSDLVersion( 1,2,6 );
 	
 	if( PREFSMAN->m_bFirstRun )
diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
index e290fb8729..c1166ec60c 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 
 LoadingWindow *MakeLoadingWindow()
 {
+	if( !PREFSMAN->m_bShowLoadingWindow )
+		return new LoadingWindow_Null;
+
 	/* Don't load NULL by default.  On most systems, if we can't load the SDL
 	 * loading window, we won't be able to init OpenGL, either, so don't bother. */
 	CString drivers = "win32,cocoa,gtk,sdl";