diff --git a/frontend/frontend_ios.c b/frontend/frontend_ios.c
index 20a8abcf95..d5492baf27 100644
--- a/frontend/frontend_ios.c
+++ b/frontend/frontend_ios.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static void ios_free_main_wrap(struct rarch_main_wrap* wrap)
    free(wrap);
 }
 
-void rarch_main_ios(void* args)
+void* rarch_main_ios(void* args)
 {
    struct rarch_main_wrap* argdata = (struct rarch_main_wrap*)args;
    int init_ret = rarch_main_init_wrap(argdata);
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ void rarch_main_ios(void* args)
    if (init_ret)
    {
       dispatch_async_f(dispatch_get_main_queue(), (void*)1, ios_rarch_exited);
-      return;
+      return 0;
    }
 
 #ifdef HAVE_RGUI
@@ -157,4 +157,5 @@ void rarch_main_ios(void* args)
    rarch_main_clear_state();
 
    dispatch_async_f(dispatch_get_main_queue(), 0, ios_rarch_exited);
+   return 0;
 }
diff --git a/ios/RetroArch/RetroArch_iOS.m b/ios/RetroArch/RetroArch_iOS.m
index 68dda336b2..3375d28ca3 100644
--- a/ios/RetroArch/RetroArch_iOS.m
+++ b/ios/RetroArch/RetroArch_iOS.m
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <sys/stat.h>
-#include <dispatch/dispatch.h>
+#include <pthread.h>
 
 #include "rarch_wrapper.h"
 #include "general.h"
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define kDOCSFOLDER [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents"]
 
 // From frontend/frontend_ios.c
-extern void rarch_main_ios(void* args);
+extern void* rarch_main_ios(void* args);
 extern void ios_frontend_post_event(void (*fn)(void*), void* userdata);
 
 static void event_game_reset(void* userdata)
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ static void event_reload_config(void* userdata)
 {
    UIWindow* _window;
 
+   pthread_t _retroThread;
+
    bool _isGameTop;
    bool _isPaused;
    bool _isRunning;
@@ -157,9 +159,12 @@ static void event_reload_config(void* userdata)
    load_data->state_path = strdup(sd);
    load_data->verbose = false;
    load_data->config_path = strdup(cf);
-   dispatch_async_f(dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), load_data, rarch_main_ios);
-   _isRunning = true;
-
+   if (pthread_create(&_retroThread, 0, rarch_main_ios, load_data))
+   {
+      [self rarchExited:NO];
+   }
+   pthread_detach(_retroThread);
+   
    // Read load time settings
    // TODO: Do this better
    config_file_t* conf = config_file_new([self.moduleInfo.configPath UTF8String]);