diff --git a/app/streaming/session.cpp b/app/streaming/session.cpp
index 8cca5d7b..1556bb69 100644
--- a/app/streaming/session.cpp
+++ b/app/streaming/session.cpp
@@ -112,14 +112,14 @@ void Session::clRumble(unsigned short controllerNumber, unsigned short lowFreqMo
 
 bool Session::chooseDecoder(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection vds,
                             SDL_Window* window, int videoFormat, int width, int height,
-                            int frameRate, bool enableVsync, bool enableFramePacing, IVideoDecoder*& chosenDecoder)
+                            int frameRate, bool enableVsync, bool enableFramePacing, bool testOnly, IVideoDecoder*& chosenDecoder)
 {
     SDL_LogInfo(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_APPLICATION,
                 "V-sync %s",
                 enableVsync ? "enabled" : "disabled");
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SLVIDEO
-    chosenDecoder = new SLVideoDecoder();
+    chosenDecoder = new SLVideoDecoder(testOnly);
     if (CALL_INITIALIZE(chosenDecoder)) {
         SDL_LogInfo(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_APPLICATION,
                     "SLVideo video decoder chosen");
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ bool Session::chooseDecoder(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection vds,
 #endif
 
 #ifdef HAVE_FFMPEG
-    chosenDecoder = new FFmpegVideoDecoder();
+    chosenDecoder = new FFmpegVideoDecoder(testOnly);
     if (CALL_INITIALIZE(chosenDecoder)) {
         SDL_LogInfo(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_APPLICATION,
                     "FFmpeg-based video decoder chosen");
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ bool Session::isHardwareDecodeAvailable(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelect
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (!chooseDecoder(vds, window, videoFormat, width, height, frameRate, true, false, decoder)) {
+    if (!chooseDecoder(vds, window, videoFormat, width, height, frameRate, true, false, true, decoder)) {
         SDL_DestroyWindow(window);
         SDL_QuitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);
         return false;
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ int Session::getDecoderCapabilities(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (!chooseDecoder(vds, window, videoFormat, width, height, frameRate, true, false, decoder)) {
+    if (!chooseDecoder(vds, window, videoFormat, width, height, frameRate, true, false, true, decoder)) {
         SDL_DestroyWindow(window);
         SDL_QuitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);
         return false;
@@ -1152,6 +1152,7 @@ void Session::exec(int displayOriginX, int displayOriginY)
                                    m_ActiveVideoHeight, m_ActiveVideoFrameRate,
                                    enableVsync,
                                    enableVsync && m_Preferences->framePacing,
+                                   false,
                                    s_ActiveSession->m_VideoDecoder)) {
                     SDL_AtomicUnlock(&m_DecoderLock);
                     SDL_LogError(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_APPLICATION,
diff --git a/app/streaming/session.h b/app/streaming/session.h
index 0a7fb52d..58ecc91e 100644
--- a/app/streaming/session.h
+++ b/app/streaming/session.h
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ private:
     bool chooseDecoder(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection vds,
                        SDL_Window* window, int videoFormat, int width, int height,
                        int frameRate, bool enableVsync, bool enableFramePacing,
+                       bool testOnly,
                        IVideoDecoder*& chosenDecoder);
 
     static
diff --git a/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.cpp b/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.cpp
index a925c5df..f7c30058 100644
--- a/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.cpp
+++ b/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ enum AVPixelFormat FFmpegVideoDecoder::ffGetFormat(AVCodecContext* context,
     return AV_PIX_FMT_NONE;
 }
 
-FFmpegVideoDecoder::FFmpegVideoDecoder()
+FFmpegVideoDecoder::FFmpegVideoDecoder(bool testOnly)
     : m_VideoDecoderCtx(nullptr),
       m_DecodeBuffer(1024 * 1024, 0),
       m_HwDecodeCfg(nullptr),
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ FFmpegVideoDecoder::FFmpegVideoDecoder()
       m_Pacer(nullptr),
       m_LastFrameNumber(0),
       m_StreamFps(0),
-      m_NeedsSpsFixup(false)
+      m_NeedsSpsFixup(false),
+      m_TestOnly(testOnly)
 {
     av_init_packet(&m_Pkt);
 
@@ -105,13 +106,22 @@ void FFmpegVideoDecoder::reset()
     delete m_Renderer;
     m_Renderer = nullptr;
 
-    logVideoStats(m_GlobalVideoStats, "Global video stats");
+    if (!m_TestOnly) {
+        logVideoStats(m_GlobalVideoStats, "Global video stats");
+    }
+    else {
+        // Test-only decoders can't have any frames submitted
+        SDL_assert(m_GlobalVideoStats.totalFrames == 0);
+    }
 }
 
 bool FFmpegVideoDecoder::completeInitialization(AVCodec* decoder, SDL_Window* window,
                                                 int videoFormat, int width, int height,
-                                                int maxFps, bool enableFramePacing, bool testOnly)
+                                                int maxFps, bool enableFramePacing, bool testFrame)
 {
+    // In test-only mode, we should only see test frames
+    SDL_assert(!m_TestOnly || testFrame);
+
     auto vsyncConstraint = m_Renderer->getFramePacingConstraint();
     if (vsyncConstraint == IFFmpegRenderer::PACING_FORCE_OFF && enableFramePacing) {
         SDL_LogInfo(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_APPLICATION,
@@ -129,9 +139,13 @@ bool FFmpegVideoDecoder::completeInitialization(AVCodec* decoder, SDL_Window* wi
     }
 
     m_StreamFps = maxFps;
-    m_Pacer = new Pacer(m_Renderer, &m_ActiveWndVideoStats);
-    if (!m_Pacer->initialize(window, maxFps, enableFramePacing)) {
-        return false;
+
+    // Don't bother initializing Pacer if we're not actually going to render
+    if (!testFrame) {
+        m_Pacer = new Pacer(m_Renderer, &m_ActiveWndVideoStats);
+        if (!m_Pacer->initialize(window, maxFps, enableFramePacing)) {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
     m_VideoDecoderCtx = avcodec_alloc_context3(decoder);
@@ -189,7 +203,7 @@ bool FFmpegVideoDecoder::completeInitialization(AVCodec* decoder, SDL_Window* wi
     // our minds on the selected video codec, so we'll do a trial run
     // now to see if things will actually work when the video stream
     // comes in.
-    if (testOnly) {
+    if (testFrame) {
         if (videoFormat & VIDEO_FORMAT_MASK_H264) {
             m_Pkt.data = (uint8_t*)k_H264TestFrame;
             m_Pkt.size = sizeof(k_H264TestFrame);
@@ -380,7 +394,7 @@ bool FFmpegVideoDecoder::initialize(
             m_Renderer = new SdlRenderer();
             if (vds != StreamingPreferences::VDS_FORCE_HARDWARE &&
                     m_Renderer->initialize(window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableVsync) &&
-                    completeInitialization(decoder, window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableFramePacing, false)) {
+                    completeInitialization(decoder, window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableFramePacing, m_TestOnly)) {
                 return true;
             }
             else {
@@ -397,7 +411,13 @@ bool FFmpegVideoDecoder::initialize(
         m_HwDecodeCfg = config;
         // Initialize the hardware codec and submit a test frame if the renderer needs it
         if (m_Renderer->initialize(window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableVsync) &&
-                completeInitialization(decoder, window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableFramePacing, m_Renderer->needsTestFrame())) {
+                completeInitialization(decoder, window, videoFormat, width, height, maxFps, enableFramePacing, m_TestOnly || m_Renderer->needsTestFrame())) {
+            if (m_TestOnly) {
+                // This decoder is only for testing capabilities, so don't bother
+                // creating a usable renderer
+                return true;
+            }
+
             if (m_Renderer->needsTestFrame()) {
                 // The test worked, so now let's initialize it for real
                 reset();
@@ -472,6 +492,8 @@ int FFmpegVideoDecoder::submitDecodeUnit(PDECODE_UNIT du)
     PLENTRY entry = du->bufferList;
     int err;
 
+    SDL_assert(!m_TestOnly);
+
     if (!m_LastFrameNumber) {
         m_ActiveWndVideoStats.measurementStartTimestamp = SDL_GetTicks();
         m_LastFrameNumber = du->frameNumber;
diff --git a/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.h b/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.h
index c456a897..2792211d 100644
--- a/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.h
+++ b/app/streaming/video/ffmpeg.h
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ extern "C" {
 
 class FFmpegVideoDecoder : public IVideoDecoder {
 public:
-    FFmpegVideoDecoder();
-    virtual ~FFmpegVideoDecoder();
+    FFmpegVideoDecoder(bool testOnly);
+    virtual ~FFmpegVideoDecoder() override;
     virtual bool initialize(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection vds,
                             SDL_Window* window,
                             int videoFormat,
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public:
 private:
     bool completeInitialization(AVCodec* decoder, SDL_Window* window,
                                 int videoFormat, int width, int height,
-                                int maxFps, bool enableFramePacing, bool testOnly);
+                                int maxFps, bool enableFramePacing, bool testFrame);
 
     void stringifyVideoStats(VIDEO_STATS& stats, char* output);
 
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ private:
     int m_LastFrameNumber;
     int m_StreamFps;
     bool m_NeedsSpsFixup;
+    bool m_TestOnly;
 
     static const uint8_t k_H264TestFrame[];
     static const uint8_t k_HEVCTestFrame[];
diff --git a/app/streaming/video/sl.cpp b/app/streaming/video/sl.cpp
index 01d3124a..cbcfb737 100644
--- a/app/streaming/video/sl.cpp
+++ b/app/streaming/video/sl.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #include "sl.h"
 
-SLVideoDecoder::SLVideoDecoder()
+SLVideoDecoder::SLVideoDecoder(bool)
     : m_VideoContext(nullptr),
       m_VideoStream(nullptr)
 {
diff --git a/app/streaming/video/sl.h b/app/streaming/video/sl.h
index ca7db53d..a50fd5a3 100644
--- a/app/streaming/video/sl.h
+++ b/app/streaming/video/sl.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 class SLVideoDecoder : public IVideoDecoder
 {
 public:
-    SLVideoDecoder();
+    SLVideoDecoder(bool testOnly);
     virtual ~SLVideoDecoder();
     virtual bool initialize(StreamingPreferences::VideoDecoderSelection vds,
                             SDL_Window* window,