diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index 72c0d7509..5373e578c 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -1291,6 +1291,13 @@ pub fn run(self: *App) !void {
     // Setup our actions
     self.initActions();
 
+    // On startup, we want to check for configuration errors right away
+    // so we can show our error window. We also need to setup other initial
+    // state.
+    self.syncConfigChanges(null) catch |err| {
+        log.warn("error handling configuration changes err={}", .{err});
+    };
+
     while (self.running) {
         _ = glib.MainContext.iteration(self.ctx, 1);