diff --git a/Makefile.wiiu b/Makefile.wiiu
index 8cc96f8c5f..1d4d07450a 100644
--- a/Makefile.wiiu
+++ b/Makefile.wiiu
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ HAVE_RUNAHEAD              = 1
 WIIU_LOG_RPX               = 0
 BUILD_DIR                  = objs/wiiu
 PC_DEVELOPMENT_TCP_PORT    ?=
+LOAD_WITHOUT_CORE_INFO     ?= 0
 
 ifeq ($(SALAMANDER_BUILD),1)
    BUILD_DIR := $(BUILD_DIR)-salamander
@@ -85,6 +86,9 @@ else
 ifeq ($(HAVE_RUNAHEAD),1)
    DEFINES += -DHAVE_RUNAHEAD
 endif
+ifeq ($(LOAD_WITHOUT_CORE_INFO),1)
+   DEFINES += -DLOAD_WITHOUT_CORE_INFO
+endif
 
    OBJ += wiiu/shader_utils.o
    OBJ += gfx/drivers/gx2_shaders/tex.o
diff --git a/menu/menu_displaylist.c b/menu/menu_displaylist.c
index 69527f1844..4a2eb34c02 100644
--- a/menu/menu_displaylist.c
+++ b/menu/menu_displaylist.c
@@ -1235,8 +1235,10 @@ static unsigned menu_displaylist_parse_supported_cores(menu_displaylist_info_t *
        * the core file extension - if there is none, then
        * it is impossible for RetroArch to populate a
        * core_info list */
+#if !defined(LOAD_WITHOUT_CORE_INFO)
       if (!frontend_driver_get_core_extension(exts, sizeof(exts)) ||
           string_is_empty(exts))
+#endif
       {
          struct retro_system_info *system = runloop_get_libretro_system_info();
          const char *core_path            = core_path_current;