diff --git a/disk_control_interface.c b/disk_control_interface.c
index 6ca50e8e1b..63d4c90b27 100644
--- a/disk_control_interface.c
+++ b/disk_control_interface.c
@@ -752,10 +752,14 @@ bool disk_control_verify_initial_index(disk_control_interface_t *disk_control)
 
       RARCH_LOG("%s\n", msg);
 
+      /* Note: Do not flush message queue here, since
+       * it is likely other notifications will be
+       * generated before setting the disk index, and
+       * we do not want to 'overwrite' them */
       runloop_msg_queue_push(
             msg,
             0, msg_duration,
-            true, NULL,
+            false, NULL,
             MESSAGE_QUEUE_ICON_DEFAULT, MESSAGE_QUEUE_CATEGORY_INFO);
    }
 
diff --git a/libretro-common/include/queues/message_queue.h b/libretro-common/include/queues/message_queue.h
index 492e3472dc..b18abae3cd 100644
--- a/libretro-common/include/queues/message_queue.h
+++ b/libretro-common/include/queues/message_queue.h
@@ -44,6 +44,16 @@ enum message_queue_category
 
 typedef struct msg_queue msg_queue_t;
 
+typedef struct
+{
+   char msg[1024];
+   char title[1024];
+   unsigned duration;
+   unsigned prio;
+   enum message_queue_icon icon;
+   enum message_queue_category category;
+} msg_queue_entry_t;
+
 /**
  * msg_queue_new:
  * @size              : maximum size of message
@@ -82,6 +92,28 @@ void msg_queue_push(msg_queue_t *queue, const char *msg,
  **/
 const char *msg_queue_pull(msg_queue_t *queue);
 
+/**
+ * msg_queue_extract:
+ * @queue             : pointer to queue object
+ * @queue_entry       : pointer to external queue entry struct
+ *
+ * Removes highest priority message from queue, copying
+ * contents into queue_entry struct.
+ *
+ * Returns: false if no messages in queue, otherwise true
+ **/
+bool msg_queue_extract(msg_queue_t *queue, msg_queue_entry_t *queue_entry);
+
+/**
+ * msg_queue_size:
+ * @queue             : pointer to queue object
+ *
+ * Fetches number of messages in queue.
+ *
+ * Returns: Number of messages in queue.
+ **/
+size_t msg_queue_size(msg_queue_t *queue);
+
 /**
  * msg_queue_clear:
  * @queue             : pointer to queue object
diff --git a/libretro-common/queues/message_queue.c b/libretro-common/queues/message_queue.c
index 9603335e51..6ef1812a8b 100644
--- a/libretro-common/queues/message_queue.c
+++ b/libretro-common/queues/message_queue.c
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ void msg_queue_push(msg_queue_t *queue, const char *msg,
    new_elem->prio                = prio;
    new_elem->duration            = duration;
    new_elem->msg                 = msg ? strdup(msg) : NULL;
+   new_elem->title               = title ? strdup(title) : NULL;
+   new_elem->icon                = icon;
+   new_elem->category            = category;
 
    queue->elems[queue->ptr]      = new_elem;
 
@@ -165,6 +168,7 @@ void msg_queue_clear(msg_queue_t *queue)
       if (queue->elems[i])
       {
          free(queue->elems[i]->msg);
+         free(queue->elems[i]->title);
          free(queue->elems[i]);
          queue->elems[i] = NULL;
       }
@@ -203,9 +207,9 @@ const char *msg_queue_pull(msg_queue_t *queue)
    queue->tmp_msg = front->msg;
    front->msg = NULL;
 
-   front = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[1];
    last  = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[--queue->ptr];
    queue->elems[1] = last;
+   free(front->title);
    free(front);
 
    for (;;)
@@ -243,3 +247,100 @@ const char *msg_queue_pull(msg_queue_t *queue)
 
    return queue->tmp_msg;
 }
+
+/**
+ * msg_queue_extract:
+ * @queue             : pointer to queue object
+ * @queue_entry       : pointer to external queue entry struct
+ *
+ * Removes highest priority message from queue, copying
+ * contents into queue_entry struct.
+ *
+ * Returns: false if no messages in queue, otherwise true
+ **/
+bool msg_queue_extract(msg_queue_t *queue, msg_queue_entry_t *queue_entry)
+{
+   struct queue_elem *front  = NULL, *last = NULL;
+   size_t tmp_ptr = 1;
+
+   (void)tmp_ptr;
+
+   /* Ensure arguments are valid and queue is not
+    * empty */
+   if (!queue || queue->ptr == 1 || !queue_entry)
+      return false;
+
+   front = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[1];
+   last  = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[--queue->ptr];
+   queue->elems[1] = last;
+
+   /* Copy element parameters */
+   queue_entry->duration = front->duration;
+   queue_entry->prio     = front->prio;
+   queue_entry->icon     = front->icon;
+   queue_entry->category = front->category;
+   queue_entry->msg[0]   = '\0';
+   queue_entry->title[0] = '\0';
+
+   if (front->msg)
+      strlcpy(queue_entry->msg, front->msg, sizeof(queue_entry->msg));
+
+   if (front->title)
+      strlcpy(queue_entry->title, front->title, sizeof(queue_entry->title));
+
+   /* Delete element */
+   free(front->msg);
+   free(front->title);
+   free(front);
+
+   for (;;)
+   {
+      struct queue_elem *parent = NULL;
+      struct queue_elem *child  = NULL;
+      size_t switch_index       = tmp_ptr;
+      bool left                 = (tmp_ptr * 2 <= queue->ptr)
+         && (queue->elems[tmp_ptr] < queue->elems[tmp_ptr * 2]);
+      bool right                = (tmp_ptr * 2 + 1 <= queue->ptr)
+         && (queue->elems[tmp_ptr] < queue->elems[tmp_ptr * 2 + 1]);
+
+      if (!left && !right)
+         break;
+
+      if (left && !right)
+         switch_index <<= 1;
+      else if (right && !left)
+         switch_index += switch_index + 1;
+      else
+      {
+         if (queue->elems[tmp_ptr * 2]
+               >= queue->elems[tmp_ptr * 2 + 1])
+            switch_index <<= 1;
+         else
+            switch_index += switch_index + 1;
+      }
+
+      parent = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[tmp_ptr];
+      child  = (struct queue_elem*)queue->elems[switch_index];
+      queue->elems[tmp_ptr]      = child;
+      queue->elems[switch_index] = parent;
+      tmp_ptr                    = switch_index;
+   }
+
+   return true;
+}
+
+/**
+ * msg_queue_size:
+ * @queue             : pointer to queue object
+ *
+ * Fetches number of messages in queue.
+ *
+ * Returns: Number of messages in queue.
+ **/
+size_t msg_queue_size(msg_queue_t *queue)
+{
+   if (!queue || queue->ptr <= 1)
+      return 0;
+
+   return queue->ptr - 1;
+}
diff --git a/retroarch.c b/retroarch.c
index 7630ef2986..c0853cfb56 100644
--- a/retroarch.c
+++ b/retroarch.c
@@ -1087,6 +1087,7 @@ static retro_keyboard_event_t runloop_key_event                 = NULL;
 static retro_keyboard_event_t runloop_frontend_key_event        = NULL;
 static core_option_manager_t *runloop_core_options              = NULL;
 static msg_queue_t *runloop_msg_queue                           = NULL;
+static size_t runloop_msg_queue_size                            = 0;
 
 static unsigned runloop_pending_windowed_scale                  = 0;
 static unsigned runloop_max_frames                              = 0;
@@ -3741,7 +3742,8 @@ static void retroarch_msg_queue_deinit(void)
    _runloop_msg_queue_lock = NULL;
 #endif
 
-   runloop_msg_queue = NULL;
+   runloop_msg_queue      = NULL;
+   runloop_msg_queue_size = 0;
 }
 
 static void retroarch_msg_queue_init(void)
@@ -23597,14 +23599,57 @@ static void video_driver_frame(const void *data, unsigned width,
 
    video_driver_msg[0] = '\0';
 
-   if (video_info.font_enable)
+   if (runloop_msg_queue_size > 0)
    {
-      const char *msg = NULL;
-      runloop_msg_queue_lock();
-      msg = msg_queue_pull(runloop_msg_queue);
-      if (msg)
-         strlcpy(video_driver_msg, msg, sizeof(video_driver_msg));
-      runloop_msg_queue_unlock();
+      /* If widgets are currently enabled, then
+       * messages were pushed to the queue before
+       * widgets were initialised - in this case, the
+       * first item in the message queue should be
+       * extracted and pushed to the widget message
+       * queue instead */
+#if defined(HAVE_GFX_WIDGETS)
+      if (gfx_widgets_inited)
+      {
+         bool msg_found = false;
+         msg_queue_entry_t msg_entry;
+
+         runloop_msg_queue_lock();
+         msg_found = msg_queue_extract(runloop_msg_queue, &msg_entry);
+         runloop_msg_queue_size = msg_queue_size(runloop_msg_queue);
+         runloop_msg_queue_unlock();
+
+         if (msg_found)
+            gfx_widgets_msg_queue_push(
+                  NULL,
+                  msg_entry.msg,
+                  roundf((float)msg_entry.duration / 60.0f * 1000.0f),
+                  msg_entry.title,
+                  msg_entry.icon,
+                  msg_entry.category,
+                  msg_entry.prio,
+                  false,
+#ifdef HAVE_MENU
+                  menu_driver_alive
+#else
+                  false
+#endif
+            );
+      }
+      /* ...otherwise, just output message via
+       * regular OSD notification text (if enabled) */
+      else if (video_info.font_enable)
+#else
+      if (video_info.font_enable)
+#endif
+      {
+         const char *msg = NULL;
+         runloop_msg_queue_lock();
+         msg = msg_queue_pull(runloop_msg_queue);
+         runloop_msg_queue_size = msg_queue_size(runloop_msg_queue);
+         if (msg)
+            strlcpy(video_driver_msg, msg, sizeof(video_driver_msg));
+         runloop_msg_queue_unlock();
+      }
    }
 
    if (video_info.statistics_show)
@@ -28570,6 +28615,8 @@ void runloop_msg_queue_push(const char *msg,
          msg_queue_push(runloop_msg_queue, msg,
                prio, duration,
                title, icon, category);
+
+      runloop_msg_queue_size = msg_queue_size(runloop_msg_queue);
    }
 
    ui_companion_driver_msg_queue_push(msg,