diff --git a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.cpp b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.cpp
index b5f4d79042..415965e948 100644
--- a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.cpp
+++ b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.cpp
@@ -59,13 +59,15 @@ void OculusDisplayPlugin::customizeContext() {
 
     ovrResult result = ovr_CreateTextureSwapChainGL(_session, &desc, &_textureSwapChain);
     if (!OVR_SUCCESS(result)) {
-        logFatal("Failed to create swap textures");
+        logCritical("Failed to create swap textures");
+        return;
     }
 
     int length = 0;
     result = ovr_GetTextureSwapChainLength(_session, _textureSwapChain, &length);
     if (!OVR_SUCCESS(result) || !length) {
-        qFatal("Unable to count swap chain textures");
+        logCritical("Unable to count swap chain textures");
+        return;
     }
     for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
         GLuint chainTexId;
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ void OculusDisplayPlugin::customizeContext() {
     _sceneLayer.ColorTexture[0] = _textureSwapChain;
     // not needed since the structure was zeroed on init, but explicit
     _sceneLayer.ColorTexture[1] = nullptr;
+    _customized = true;
 }
 
 void OculusDisplayPlugin::uncustomizeContext() {
@@ -98,10 +101,14 @@ void OculusDisplayPlugin::uncustomizeContext() {
     ovr_DestroyTextureSwapChain(_session, _textureSwapChain);
     _textureSwapChain = nullptr;
     _outputFramebuffer.reset();
+    _customized = false;
     Parent::uncustomizeContext();
 }
 
 void OculusDisplayPlugin::hmdPresent() {
+    if (!_customized) {
+        return;
+    }
 
     PROFILE_RANGE_EX(__FUNCTION__, 0xff00ff00, (uint64_t)_currentFrame->frameIndex)
 
diff --git a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.h b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.h
index 4d10fd38a5..0c7d57c4f4 100644
--- a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.h
+++ b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusDisplayPlugin.h
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ private:
     static const QString NAME;
     ovrTextureSwapChain _textureSwapChain;
     gpu::FramebufferPointer _outputFramebuffer;
+    bool _customized { false };
 };
 
diff --git a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.cpp b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.cpp
index 80390fd538..5fbc0db7d1 100644
--- a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.cpp
+++ b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.cpp
@@ -39,12 +39,12 @@ void logWarning(const char* what) {
     qWarning(oculus) << what << ":" << getError().ErrorString;
 }
 
-void logFatal(const char* what) {
+void logCritical(const char* what) {
     std::string error("[oculus] ");
     error += what;
     error += ": ";
     error += getError().ErrorString;
-    qFatal(error.c_str());
+    qCritical(error.c_str());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.h b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.h
index ba0547ae0a..e55dde1034 100644
--- a/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.h
+++ b/plugins/oculus/src/OculusHelpers.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #include <controllers/Forward.h>
 
 void logWarning(const char* what);
-void logFatal(const char* what);
+void logCritical(const char* what);
 bool oculusAvailable();
 ovrSession acquireOculusSession();
 void releaseOculusSession();