diff --git a/include/rendering/terrain_manager.hpp b/include/rendering/terrain_manager.hpp
index 290c45eb..9fa540b3 100644
--- a/include/rendering/terrain_manager.hpp
+++ b/include/rendering/terrain_manager.hpp
@@ -279,6 +279,9 @@ public:
     /** Process one ready tile (for loading screens with per-tile progress updates) */
     void processOneReadyTile();
 
+    /** Process a bounded batch of ready tiles with async GPU upload (no sync wait) */
+    void processReadyTiles();
+
 private:
     /**
      * Get tile coordinates from GL world position
@@ -317,10 +320,6 @@ private:
      */
     void workerLoop();
 
-    /**
-     * Main thread: poll for completed tiles and upload to GPU
-     */
-    void processReadyTiles();
     void ensureGroundEffectTablesLoaded();
     void generateGroundClutterPlacements(std::shared_ptr<PendingTile>& pending,
                                          std::unordered_set<uint32_t>& preparedModelIds);
diff --git a/src/core/application.cpp b/src/core/application.cpp
index 4ff3aae1..d26be986 100644
--- a/src/core/application.cpp
+++ b/src/core/application.cpp
@@ -1990,7 +1990,7 @@ void Application::setupUICallbacks() {
             worldEntryMovementGraceTimer_ = 2.0f;
             taxiLandingClampTimer_ = 0.0f;
             lastTaxiFlight_ = false;
-            renderer->getTerrainManager()->processAllReadyTiles();
+            renderer->getTerrainManager()->processReadyTiles();
             {
                 auto [tileX, tileY] = core::coords::worldToTile(renderPos.x, renderPos.y);
                 std::vector<std::pair<int,int>> nearbyTiles;
@@ -2023,10 +2023,12 @@ void Application::setupUICallbacks() {
                 renderer->getCameraController()->clearMovementInputs();
                 renderer->getCameraController()->suppressMovementFor(0.5f);
             }
-            // Flush any tiles that finished background parsing during the cast
-            // (e.g. Hearthstone pre-loaded them) so they're GPU-uploaded before
-            // the first frame at the new position.
-            renderer->getTerrainManager()->processAllReadyTiles();
+            // Kick off async upload for any tiles that finished background
+            // parsing.  Use the bounded processReadyTiles() instead of
+            // processAllReadyTiles() to avoid multi-second main-thread stalls
+            // when many tiles are ready (the rest will finalize over subsequent
+            // frames via the normal terrain update loop).
+            renderer->getTerrainManager()->processReadyTiles();
 
             // Queue all remaining tiles within the load radius (8 tiles = 17x17)
             // at the new position. precacheTiles skips already-loaded/pending tiles,