diff --git a/src/ui/game_screen.cpp b/src/ui/game_screen.cpp
index 877905e9..ec7c4f79 100644
--- a/src/ui/game_screen.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/game_screen.cpp
@@ -594,22 +594,10 @@ void GameScreen::render(game::GameHandler& gameHandler) {
             renderer->setFSRSharpness(pendingFSRSharpness);
             renderer->setFSR2DebugTuning(pendingFSR2JitterSign, pendingFSR2MotionVecScaleX, pendingFSR2MotionVecScaleY);
             renderer->setAmdFsr3FramegenEnabled(pendingAMDFramegen);
-            // Safety fallback: persisted FSR2 can still hang on some systems during startup.
-            // Require explicit opt-in for startup FSR2; otherwise fall back to FSR1.
-            const bool allowStartupFsr2 = (std::getenv("WOWEE_ALLOW_STARTUP_FSR2") != nullptr);
             int effectiveMode = pendingUpscalingMode;
-            if (effectiveMode == 2 && !allowStartupFsr2) {
-                static bool warnedStartupFsr2Fallback = false;
-                if (!warnedStartupFsr2Fallback) {
-                    LOG_WARNING("Startup FSR2 is disabled by default for stability; falling back to FSR1. Set WOWEE_ALLOW_STARTUP_FSR2=1 to override.");
-                    warnedStartupFsr2Fallback = true;
-                }
-                effectiveMode = 1;
-                pendingUpscalingMode = 1;
-                pendingFSR = true;
-            }
 
-            // If explicitly enabled, still defer FSR2 until fully in-world.
+            // Defer FSR2/FSR3 activation until fully in-world to avoid
+            // init issues during login/character selection screens.
             if (effectiveMode == 2 && gameHandler.getState() != game::WorldState::IN_WORLD) {
                 renderer->setFSREnabled(false);
                 renderer->setFSR2Enabled(false);