diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
index 11605353f5..2d30dab703 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
@@ -1669,7 +1669,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 
 			// realtime throttle is never going to be so exact that using a double here is wrong
 			_throttle.SetCoreFps(Global.Emulator.CoreComm.VsyncRate);
-			_throttle.signal_paused = EmulatorPaused;
+			_throttle.signal_paused = EmulatorPaused || Global.Emulator.IsNull();
 			_throttle.signal_unthrottle = _unthrottled || superFastForward;
 			_throttle.signal_overrideSecondaryThrottle = (fastForward || rewind) && (Global.Config.SoundThrottle || Global.Config.VSyncThrottle || Global.Config.VSync);
 			_throttle.SetSpeedPercent(speedPercent);