diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 35d1a9a91..7e7292609 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Other fixes:
  - Core: Fix thread unsafety issue when dispatching code to a thread
  - Core: Fix loading ELF files that have unexpected empty program headers
  - Debugger: Close trace log when done tracing
+ - GBA: Fix loading multiboot ELF files (fixes mgba.io/i/1949)
  - Qt: Fix running proxied video if it gets pushed to the main thread
  - Qt: Fix game display sometimes disappearing after closing load/save state screen
  - Qt: Fix gamepad event dispatching (fixes mgba.io/i/1922)
diff --git a/src/gba/core.c b/src/gba/core.c
index 901d25111..460f431db 100644
--- a/src/gba/core.c
+++ b/src/gba/core.c
@@ -454,9 +454,14 @@ static bool _GBACoreLoadROM(struct mCore* core, struct VFile* vf) {
 #ifdef USE_ELF
 	struct ELF* elf = ELFOpen(vf);
 	if (elf) {
-		GBALoadNull(core->board);
+		if (ELFEntry(elf) == BASE_CART0) {
+			GBALoadNull(core->board);
+		}
 		bool success = mCoreLoadELF(core, elf);
 		ELFClose(elf);
+		if (success) {
+			vf->close(vf);
+		}
 		return success;
 	}
 #endif