diff --git a/src/gui/gui.cpp b/src/gui/gui.cpp
index 62608960..a1a5cb84 100644
--- a/src/gui/gui.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/gui.cpp
@@ -6347,8 +6347,8 @@ bool FurnaceGUI::init() {
 
   logD("starting render backend...");
   if (!rend->init(sdlWin)) {
-    if (settings.renderBackend!="SDL" && !settings.renderBackend.empty()) {
-      settings.renderBackend="";
+    if (settings.renderBackend!="SDL") {
+      settings.renderBackend="SDL";
       //e->setConf("renderBackend","");
       //e->saveConf();
       //lastError=fmt::sprintf("\r\nthe render backend has been set to a safe value. please restart Furnace.");
diff --git a/src/gui/gui.h b/src/gui/gui.h
index b3bd9539..267e34a0 100644
--- a/src/gui/gui.h
+++ b/src/gui/gui.h
@@ -75,16 +75,20 @@ enum FurnaceGUIRenderBackend {
   GUI_BACKEND_DX11
 };
 
-#ifdef HAVE_RENDER_SDL
-#define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT GUI_BACKEND_SDL
-#define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT_NAME "SDL"
-#else
 #ifdef HAVE_RENDER_DX11
 #define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT GUI_BACKEND_DX11
 #define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT_NAME "DirectX 11"
 #else
+#ifdef HAVE_RENDER_GL
 #define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT GUI_BACKEND_GL
 #define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT_NAME "OpenGL"
+#else
+#ifdef HAVE_RENDER_SDL
+#define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT GUI_BACKEND_SDL
+#define GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT_NAME "SDL"
+#else
+#error how did you manage to do that?
+#endif
 #endif
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/gui/settings.cpp b/src/gui/settings.cpp
index f67e8e40..ab06d74f 100644
--- a/src/gui/settings.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/settings.cpp
@@ -2772,7 +2772,7 @@ void FurnaceGUI::syncSettings() {
   settings.orderButtonPos=e->getConfInt("orderButtonPos",2);
   settings.compress=e->getConfInt("compress",1);
   settings.newPatternFormat=e->getConfInt("newPatternFormat",1);
-  settings.renderBackend=e->getConfString("renderBackend","SDL");
+  settings.renderBackend=e->getConfString("renderBackend",GUI_BACKEND_DEFAULT_NAME);
   settings.renderClearPos=e->getConfInt("renderClearPos",0);
   settings.insertBehavior=e->getConfInt("insertBehavior",1);
   settings.pullDeleteRow=e->getConfInt("pullDeleteRow",1);