diff --git a/cheevos/cheevos.c b/cheevos/cheevos.c
index 0875906f0b..2e863d4c26 100644
--- a/cheevos/cheevos.c
+++ b/cheevos/cheevos.c
@@ -1313,27 +1313,8 @@ static void rcheevos_fetch_badges(void)
    rcheevos_client_fetch_badges(rcheevos_fetch_badges_callback, NULL);
 }
 
-static void rcheevos_start_session(void)
+static void rcheevos_start_session_async(retro_task_t* task)
 {
-   if (rcheevos_load_aborted())
-   {
-      CHEEVOS_LOG(RCHEEVOS_TAG "Load aborted before starting session\n");
-      return;
-   }
-
-   if (   rcheevos_locals.game.achievement_count == 0
-       && rcheevos_locals.game.leaderboard_count == 0)
-   {
-      if (!rcheevos_locals.runtime.richpresence)
-      {
-         /* nothing for the runtime to process, 
-          * disable hardcore and bail */
-         rcheevos_show_game_placard();
-         rcheevos_pause_hardcore();
-         return;
-      }
-   }
-
    rcheevos_begin_load_state(RCHEEVOS_LOAD_STATE_STARTING_SESSION);
 
    /* activate the achievements and leaderboards 
@@ -1378,10 +1359,41 @@ static void rcheevos_start_session(void)
 
    rcheevos_show_game_placard();
 
+   task_set_finished(task, true);
+
    if (rcheevos_end_load_state() == 0)
       rcheevos_fetch_badges();
 }
 
+static void rcheevos_start_session(void)
+{
+   retro_task_t* task;
+
+   if (rcheevos_load_aborted())
+   {
+      CHEEVOS_LOG(RCHEEVOS_TAG "Load aborted before starting session\n");
+      return;
+   }
+
+   if (rcheevos_locals.game.achievement_count == 0
+      && rcheevos_locals.game.leaderboard_count == 0)
+   {
+      if (!rcheevos_locals.runtime.richpresence)
+      {
+         /* nothing for the runtime to process,
+          * disable hardcore and bail */
+         rcheevos_show_game_placard();
+         rcheevos_pause_hardcore();
+         return;
+      }
+   }
+
+   /* this is called on the primary thread. use a task to do the initialization on a background thread */
+   task = task_init();
+   task->handler = rcheevos_start_session_async;
+   task_queue_push(task);
+}
+
 static void rcheevos_initialize_runtime_callback(void* userdata)
 {
    rcheevos_start_session();
diff --git a/cheevos/cheevos_client.c b/cheevos/cheevos_client.c
index 9ed2eb209e..f9fb7ea0a3 100644
--- a/cheevos/cheevos_client.c
+++ b/cheevos/cheevos_client.c
@@ -442,9 +442,7 @@ static void rcheevos_async_http_task_callback(
        * response is properly formatted or will encounter a parse failure
        * before reading past the end of the data */
       if (request->handler)
-      {
          request->handler(request, data, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
-      }
    }
 
    if (!buffer[0])
diff --git a/gfx/widgets/gfx_widget_achievement_popup.c b/gfx/widgets/gfx_widget_achievement_popup.c
index 537b5859c8..160f2cb479 100644
--- a/gfx/widgets/gfx_widget_achievement_popup.c
+++ b/gfx/widgets/gfx_widget_achievement_popup.c
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@ static void gfx_widget_achievement_popup_next(void* userdata)
 
    if (state->queue_read_index >= 0)
    {
-      gfx_widget_achievement_popup_free_current(state);
+      if (state->queue[state->queue_read_index].title)
+         gfx_widget_achievement_popup_free_current(state);
 
       /* start the next popup (if present) */
       if (state->queue[state->queue_read_index].title)