diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/MemoryMappedFiles.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/MemoryMappedFiles.cs
index 7bd779bb95..c41f35000b 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/MemoryMappedFiles.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/MemoryMappedFiles.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,15 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes);
 		}
 
-		public int ScreenShotToFile() => WriteToFile(Filename, _takeScreenshotCallback());
+		public int ScreenShotToFile()
+		{
+			if (Filename is null)
+			{
+				Console.WriteLine("MMF screenshot target not set; start EmuHawk with `--mmf=filename`");
+				return 0;
+			}
+			return WriteToFile(Filename, _takeScreenshotCallback());
+		}
 
 		public int WriteToFile(string filename, byte[] outputBytes)
 		{
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/lua/CommonLibs/CommLuaLibrary.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/lua/CommonLibs/CommLuaLibrary.cs
index 2c5574264a..78d1de1af0 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/lua/CommonLibs/CommLuaLibrary.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/lua/CommonLibs/CommLuaLibrary.cs
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			return APIs.Comm.Sockets.SendString(SendString);
 		}
 
-		[LuaMethod("socketServerSendBytes", "sends a string to the Socket server")]
+		[LuaMethod("socketServerSendBytes", "sends bytes to the Socket server")]
 		public int SocketServerSendBytes(LuaTable byteArray)
 		{
 			if (!CheckSocketServer()) return -1;
@@ -133,43 +133,30 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 		[LuaMethod("mmfSetFilename", "Sets the filename for the screenshots")]
 		public void MmfSetFilename(string filename)
 		{
-			CheckMmf();
 			APIs.Comm.MMF.Filename = filename;
 		}
 
 		[LuaMethod("mmfGetFilename", "Gets the filename for the screenshots")]
 		public string MmfGetFilename()
 		{
-			CheckMmf();
-			return APIs.Comm.MMF?.Filename;
+			return APIs.Comm.MMF.Filename;
 		}
 
 		[LuaMethod("mmfScreenshot", "Saves screenshot to memory mapped file")]
 		public int MmfScreenshot()
 		{
-			CheckMmf();
 			return APIs.Comm.MMF.ScreenShotToFile();
 		}
 
 		[LuaMethod("mmfWrite", "Writes a string to a memory mapped file")]
 		public int MmfWrite(string mmf_filename, string outputString)
 		{
-			CheckMmf();
 			return APIs.Comm.MMF.WriteToFile(mmf_filename, outputString);
 		}
 		[LuaMethod("mmfRead", "Reads a string from a memory mapped file")]
 		public string MmfRead(string mmf_filename, int expectedSize)
 		{
-			CheckMmf();
-			return APIs.Comm.MMF?.ReadFromFile(mmf_filename, expectedSize);
-		}
-
-		private void CheckMmf()
-		{
-			if (APIs.Comm.MMF == null)
-			{
-				Log("Memory mapped file was not initialized, please initialize it via the command line");
-			}
+			return APIs.Comm.MMF.ReadFromFile(mmf_filename, expectedSize);
 		}
 
 		// All HTTP related methods
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
index 5dc6bc29b2..fe5d421d1c 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
@@ -605,9 +605,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 				_argParser.HTTPAddresses == null
 					? null
 					: new HttpCommunication(NetworkingTakeScreenshot, _argParser.HTTPAddresses.Value.UrlGet, _argParser.HTTPAddresses.Value.UrlPost),
-				_argParser.MMFFilename == null
-					? null
-					: new MemoryMappedFiles(NetworkingTakeScreenshot, _argParser.MMFFilename),
+				new MemoryMappedFiles(NetworkingTakeScreenshot, _argParser.MMFFilename),
 				_argParser.SocketAddress == null
 					? null
 					: new SocketServer(NetworkingTakeScreenshot, _argParser.SocketAddress.Value.IP, _argParser.SocketAddress.Value.Port)