diff --git a/ferretro_components/src/provided/sdl2/canvas.rs b/ferretro_components/src/provided/sdl2/canvas.rs
index 20522a3..ffe8cb6 100644
--- a/ferretro_components/src/provided/sdl2/canvas.rs
+++ b/ferretro_components/src/provided/sdl2/canvas.rs
@@ -53,13 +53,14 @@ impl SimpleSdl2CanvasComponent {
             unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(sys_info.library_name) }.to_string_lossy()
         );
 
-        let window = sdl_context
+        // default to old libsnes 256x224 window size until load_game (prereq of get_system_av_info)
+        let canvas = sdl_context
             .video()?
             .window(title.as_str(), 256, 224)
+            .build()?
+            .into_canvas()
             .build()?;
 
-        let canvas = window.into_canvas().build()?;
-
         Ok(SimpleSdl2CanvasComponent {
             canvas,
         })