diff --git a/src/AcDream.Launcher/MainWindow.axaml.cs b/src/AcDream.Launcher/MainWindow.axaml.cs
index cf39085d..90f6c3be 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.Launcher/MainWindow.axaml.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.Launcher/MainWindow.axaml.cs
@@ -18,7 +18,13 @@ public sealed partial class MainWindow : Window
 
     public MainWindow()
     {
-        AvaloniaXamlLoader.Load(this);
+        // InitializeComponent(), not AvaloniaXamlLoader.Load(this): only the
+        // generated method assigns the x:Name backing fields. Loading the XAML
+        // directly leaves every named control (ProfilesTree, the editor text
+        // boxes, FirstRunDatDirectoryTextBox, UpdateCloseButton, ...) null, so
+        // the first modal open or close threw NullReferenceException out of the
+        // dispatcher and took the whole process down through Program's guard.
+        InitializeComponent();
         _statusTimer = new DispatcherTimer
         {
             Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(250),