diff --git a/app/src/main/cpp/skyline/gpu/presentation_engine.cpp b/app/src/main/cpp/skyline/gpu/presentation_engine.cpp
index dfe4de98..39043d4e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/cpp/skyline/gpu/presentation_engine.cpp
+++ b/app/src/main/cpp/skyline/gpu/presentation_engine.cpp
@@ -374,8 +374,11 @@ namespace skyline::gpu {
     }
 
     u64 PresentationEngine::Present(const std::shared_ptr<Texture> &texture, i64 timestamp, i64 swapInterval, AndroidRect crop, NativeWindowScalingMode scalingMode, NativeWindowTransform transform, skyline::service::hosbinder::AndroidFence fence, const std::function<void()>& presentCallback) {
-        std::unique_lock lock(mutex);
-        surfaceCondition.wait(lock, [this]() { return vkSurface.has_value(); });
+        if (!vkSurface.has_value()) {
+            // We want this function to generally (not necessarily always) block when a surface is not present to implicitly pause the game
+            std::unique_lock lock(mutex);
+            surfaceCondition.wait(lock, [this]() { return vkSurface.has_value(); });
+        }
 
         presentQueue.Push(PresentableFrame{
             texture,