diff --git a/crates/yabg3nml/src/autostart.rs b/crates/yabg3nml/src/autostart.rs
index c236b54..155b5ef 100644
--- a/crates/yabg3nml/src/autostart.rs
+++ b/crates/yabg3nml/src/autostart.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use std::{
     os::windows::process::{CommandExt as _, ExitCodeExt as _},
     path::Path,
     process::{Command, ExitCode},
+    thread,
 };
 
 use eyre::{eyre, Result};
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ use crate::{
     paths::{get_game_binary_for, Bg3Exe},
     setup::init,
     single_instance::SingleInstance,
+    wapi::event_loop::EventLoop,
 };
 
 pub fn autostart() -> Result<ExitCode> {
@@ -95,6 +97,9 @@ pub fn autostart() -> Result<ExitCode> {
         );
     }
 
+    // just put something here to stop the needless busy cursor
+    thread::spawn(|| EventLoop::new().run(|_, _| ()));
+
     match child.wait() {
         Ok(status) => {
             trace!(code = status.code(), "original child exit code");