diff --git a/Limelight/Stream/StreamManager.m b/Limelight/Stream/StreamManager.m
index c924027..06967b6 100644
--- a/Limelight/Stream/StreamManager.m
+++ b/Limelight/Stream/StreamManager.m
@@ -88,10 +88,13 @@
     _config.appVersion = appversion;
     _config.gfeVersion = gfeVersion;
     
-    VideoDecoderRenderer* renderer = [[VideoDecoderRenderer alloc]initWithView:_renderView];
-    _connection = [[Connection alloc] initWithConfig:_config renderer:renderer connectionCallbacks:_callbacks];
-    NSOperationQueue* opQueue = [[NSOperationQueue alloc] init];
-    [opQueue addOperation:_connection];
+    // Initializing the renderer must be done on the main thread
+    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
+        VideoDecoderRenderer* renderer = [[VideoDecoderRenderer alloc] initWithView:self->_renderView];
+        self->_connection = [[Connection alloc] initWithConfig:self->_config renderer:renderer connectionCallbacks:self->_callbacks];
+        NSOperationQueue* opQueue = [[NSOperationQueue alloc] init];
+        [opQueue addOperation:self->_connection];
+    });
 }
 
 - (void) stopStream
diff --git a/Limelight/Stream/VideoDecoderRenderer.m b/Limelight/Stream/VideoDecoderRenderer.m
index 151b251..ac95e9b 100644
--- a/Limelight/Stream/VideoDecoderRenderer.m
+++ b/Limelight/Stream/VideoDecoderRenderer.m
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
     displayLayer.position = CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(_view.bounds), CGRectGetMidY(_view.bounds));
     displayLayer.videoGravity = AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspect;
     
+    // Hide the layer until we get an IDR frame. This ensures we
+    // can see the loading progress label as the stream is starting.
+    displayLayer.hidden = YES;
+    
     if (oldLayer != nil) {
         // Switch out the old display layer with the new one
         [_view.layer replaceSublayer:oldLayer with:displayLayer];
@@ -349,8 +353,12 @@
 
     // Enqueue video samples on the main thread
     dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
+        // Enqueue the next frame
         [self->displayLayer enqueueSampleBuffer:sampleBuffer];
         
+        // Ensure the layer is visible now
+        self->displayLayer.hidden = NO;
+        
         // Dereference the buffers
         CFRelease(blockBuffer);
         CFRelease(sampleBuffer);