diff --git a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthEditor.h b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthEditor.h
index 1d2cf165aba..ce09c1d459d 100644
--- a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthEditor.h
+++ b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthEditor.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "juce_audio_utils/juce_audio_utils.h"
 
 #include <forward_list>
+#include "version.h"
 
 class SurgeGUIEditor;
 class SurgeJUCELookAndFeel;
@@ -141,4 +142,32 @@ class SurgeSynthEditor : public juce::AudioProcessorEditor,
     JUCE_DECLARE_NON_COPYABLE_WITH_LEAK_DETECTOR(SurgeSynthEditor)
 };
 
+struct SurgeSynthStartupErrorEditor : juce::AudioProcessorEditor
+{
+    SurgeSynthProcessor &ssp;
+    SurgeSynthStartupErrorEditor(SurgeSynthProcessor &p) : juce::AudioProcessorEditor(p), ssp(p)
+    {
+        setSize(700, 700);
+    }
+    void paint(juce::Graphics &g) override
+    {
+        g.fillAll(juce::Colours::black);
+        g.setColour(juce::Colour(255, 50, 50));
+
+        g.setFont(40);
+        auto lb = getLocalBounds().withHeight(50).translated(0, 100);
+        g.drawText("Fatal Surge Startup Error", lb, juce::Justification::centred);
+
+        g.setColour(juce::Colours::white);
+        g.setFont(20);
+        lb = lb.translated(0, 55).withHeight(120);
+        g.drawFittedText(ssp.fatalErrorMessage, lb, juce::Justification::centred, 5);
+        lb = lb.translated(0, 125);
+        g.drawText(Surge::Build::FullVersionStr, lb, juce::Justification::centred);
+        lb = lb.translated(0, 25);
+        g.drawText("Report on Surge discord or github issue with a screenshot of this screen", lb,
+                   juce::Justification::centred);
+    }
+};
+
 #endif // SURGE_SRC_SURGE_XT_SURGESYNTHEDITOR_H
diff --git a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.cpp b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.cpp
index cb4e392c209..0ca56b636ff 100644
--- a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.cpp
+++ b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.cpp
@@ -65,11 +65,19 @@ SurgeSynthProcessor::SurgeSynthProcessor()
         << " using " << Surge::Build::BuildCompiler << "\n";
 #endif
 
-    surge = std::make_unique<SurgeSynthesizer>(this);
-
+    try
+    {
+        surge = std::make_unique<SurgeSynthesizer>(this);
+    }
+    catch (const std::exception &e)
+    {
+        surge.reset();
+        fatalErrorMessage = e.what();
+        return;
+    }
 #if BUILD_IS_DEBUG
-    oss << "  - Data         : " << surge->storage.datapath << "\n"
-        << "  - User Data    : " << surge->storage.userDataPath << std::endl;
+    oss << "  - Data         : " << surge->storage.datapath.u8string() << "\n"
+        << "  - User Data    : " << surge->storage.userDataPath.u8string() << std::endl;
     DBG(oss.str());
 #endif
 
@@ -178,6 +186,9 @@ SurgeSynthProcessor::SurgeSynthProcessor()
 
 SurgeSynthProcessor::~SurgeSynthProcessor()
 {
+    if (!surge)
+        return;
+
     if (oscHandler.listening)
     {
         oscHandler.stopListening();
@@ -345,6 +356,9 @@ void SurgeSynthProcessor::paramChangeToListeners(Parameter *p)
 
 void SurgeSynthProcessor::prepareToPlay(double sr, int samplesPerBlock)
 {
+    if (!surge)
+        return;
+
     surge->setSamplerate(sr);
     // It used to be I would set audio processing active true here *but* REAPER calls this for
     // inactive muted channels so we didn't load if that was the case. Set it true only
@@ -379,6 +393,12 @@ void SurgeSynthProcessor::processBlock(juce::AudioBuffer<float> &buffer,
 {
     auto fpuguard = sst::plugininfra::cpufeatures::FPUStateGuard();
 
+    if (!surge)
+    {
+        buffer.clear();
+        return;
+    }
+
     priorCallWasProcessBlockNotBypassed = true;
 
     // Make sure we have a main output
@@ -1076,12 +1096,22 @@ bool SurgeSynthProcessor::hasEditor() const
 
 juce::AudioProcessorEditor *SurgeSynthProcessor::createEditor()
 {
-    return new SurgeSynthEditor(*this);
+    if (surge)
+    {
+        return new SurgeSynthEditor(*this);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        return new SurgeSynthStartupErrorEditor(*this);
+    }
 }
 
 //==============================================================================
 void SurgeSynthProcessor::getStateInformation(juce::MemoryBlock &destData)
 {
+    if (!surge)
+        return;
+
     surge->populateDawExtraState();
     auto sse = dynamic_cast<SurgeSynthEditor *>(getActiveEditor());
     if (sse)
@@ -1097,6 +1127,9 @@ void SurgeSynthProcessor::getStateInformation(juce::MemoryBlock &destData)
 
 void SurgeSynthProcessor::setStateInformation(const void *data, int sizeInBytes)
 {
+    if (!surge)
+        return;
+
     surge->enqueuePatchForLoad(data, sizeInBytes);
     surge->processAudioThreadOpsWhenAudioEngineUnavailable();
 }
diff --git a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.h b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.h
index 3177f5aa679..5313d11bb2a 100644
--- a/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.h
+++ b/src/surge-xt/SurgeSynthProcessor.h
@@ -469,6 +469,8 @@ class SurgeSynthProcessor : public juce::AudioProcessor,
   public:
     bool inputIsLatent{false};
 
+    std::string fatalErrorMessage{false};
+
   private:
     // Have we warned about bad configurations
     bool warnedAboutBadConfig{false};