diff --git a/src/components/mixins/UtilityMixin.vue b/src/components/mixins/UtilityMixin.vue
index 84e3911b3..3571e19aa 100644
--- a/src/components/mixins/UtilityMixin.vue
+++ b/src/components/mixins/UtilityMixin.vue
@@ -16,15 +16,6 @@ export default class UtilityMixin extends Vue {
     }
 
     async refreshThunderstoreModList() {
-        // Don't do background update on index route since the game
-        // isn't really chosen yet, nor in the splash screen since it
-        // proactively updates the package list.
-        const exemptRoutes = ["index", "splash"];
-
-        if (this.$route.name && exemptRoutes.includes(this.$route.name)) {
-            return;
-        }
-
         const response = await ConnectionProvider.instance.getPackages(this.$store.state.activeGame);
         await this.$store.dispatch("tsMods/updatePersistentCache", response.data);
         await this.$store.dispatch("tsMods/updateMods");
@@ -39,7 +30,21 @@ export default class UtilityMixin extends Vue {
      * failure to see how this affects the number of reported errors.
      */
     private async tryRefreshThunderstoreModList() {
+        // Don't do background update on index route since the game
+        // isn't really chosen yet, nor in the splash screen since it
+        // proactively updates the package list.
+        const exemptRoutes = ["index", "splash"];
+
+        if (this.$route.name && exemptRoutes.includes(this.$route.name)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (this.$store.state.tsMods.isBackgroundUpdateInProgress) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         try {
+            this.$store.commit("tsMods/startBackgroundUpdate");
             await this.refreshThunderstoreModList();
         } catch (e) {
             if (this.tsRefreshFailed) {
@@ -49,6 +54,8 @@ export default class UtilityMixin extends Vue {
 
             this.tsRefreshFailed = true;
             return;
+        } finally {
+            this.$store.commit("tsMods/finishBackgroundUpdate");
         }
 
         this.tsRefreshFailed = false;
diff --git a/src/components/settings-components/SettingsView.vue b/src/components/settings-components/SettingsView.vue
index 5e76b7643..637aead4c 100644
--- a/src/components/settings-components/SettingsView.vue
+++ b/src/components/settings-components/SettingsView.vue
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ import UtilityMixin from '../mixins/UtilityMixin.vue';
         private search: string = '';
         private managerVersionNumber: VersionNumber = ManagerInformation.VERSION;
         private searchableSettings: SettingsRow[] = [];
-        private downloadingThunderstoreModList: boolean = false;
 
         get activeGame(): Game {
             return this.$store.state.activeGame;
@@ -299,7 +298,7 @@ import UtilityMixin from '../mixins/UtilityMixin.vue';
                 'Refresh online mod list',
                 'Check for any new mod releases.',
                 async () => {
-                        if (this.downloadingThunderstoreModList) {
+                        if (this.$store.state.tsMods.isBackgroundUpdateInProgress) {
                             return "Checking for new releases";
                         }
                         if (this.$store.state.tsMods.connectionError.length > 0) {
@@ -312,17 +311,19 @@ import UtilityMixin from '../mixins/UtilityMixin.vue';
                     },
                 'fa-exchange-alt',
                 async () => {
-                    if (!this.downloadingThunderstoreModList) {
-                        this.downloadingThunderstoreModList = true;
-                        this.$store.commit("tsMods/setConnectionError", "");
+                    if (this.$store.state.tsMods.isBackgroundUpdateInProgress) {
+                        return;
+                    }
 
-                        try {
-                            await this.refreshThunderstoreModList();
-                        } catch (e) {
-                            this.$store.commit("tsMods/setConnectionError", e);
-                        } finally {
-                            this.downloadingThunderstoreModList = false;
-                        }
+                    this.$store.commit("tsMods/startBackgroundUpdate");
+                    this.$store.commit("tsMods/setConnectionError", "");
+
+                    try {
+                        await this.refreshThunderstoreModList();
+                    } catch (e) {
+                        this.$store.commit("tsMods/setConnectionError", e);
+                    } finally {
+                        this.$store.commit("tsMods/finishBackgroundUpdate");
                     }
                 }
             ),
diff --git a/src/store/modules/TsModsModule.ts b/src/store/modules/TsModsModule.ts
index 576bbdd63..6396e8aae 100644
--- a/src/store/modules/TsModsModule.ts
+++ b/src/store/modules/TsModsModule.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ interface State {
     connectionError: string;
     deprecated: Map<string, boolean>;
     exclusions?: string[];
+    isBackgroundUpdateInProgress: boolean;
     mods: ThunderstoreMod[];
     modsLastUpdated?: Date;
 }
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ export const TsModsModule = {
         deprecated: new Map<string, boolean>(),
         /*** Packages available through API that should be ignored by the manager */
         exclusions: [],
+        /*** Mod list is automatically and periodically updated in the background */
+        isBackgroundUpdateInProgress: false,
         /*** All mods available through API for the current active game */
         mods: [],
         /*** When was the mod list last refreshed from the API? */
@@ -116,6 +119,9 @@ export const TsModsModule = {
         clearModCache(state) {
             state.cache.clear();
         },
+        finishBackgroundUpdate(state) {
+            state.isBackgroundUpdateInProgress = false;
+        },
         setConnectionError(state, error: string|unknown) {
             if (typeof error === 'string') {
                 state.connectionError = error;
@@ -133,6 +139,9 @@ export const TsModsModule = {
         setExclusions(state, payload: string[]) {
             state.exclusions = payload;
         },
+        startBackgroundUpdate(state) {
+            state.isBackgroundUpdateInProgress = true;
+        },
         updateDeprecated(state, allMods: ThunderstoreMod[]) {
             state.deprecated = Deprecations.getDeprecatedPackageMap(allMods);
         }