diff --git a/Core/System.cpp b/Core/System.cpp
index 8fbe2f9652..b752b64fc8 100644
--- a/Core/System.cpp
+++ b/Core/System.cpp
@@ -271,7 +271,11 @@ bool PSP_Init(const CoreParameter &coreParam, std::string *error_string) {
 	bool success = coreParameter.fileToStart != "";
 	*error_string = coreParameter.errorString;
 	if (success) {
-		GPU_Init();
+		success = GPU_Init();
+		if (!success) {
+			PSP_Shutdown();
+			*error_string = "Unable to initialize rendering engine.";
+		}
 	}
 	return success;
 }
diff --git a/GPU/GPUState.cpp b/GPU/GPUState.cpp
index 063965d187..525d100631 100644
--- a/GPU/GPUState.cpp
+++ b/GPU/GPUState.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ GPUStateCache gstate_c;
 GPUInterface *gpu;
 GPUStatistics gpuStats;
 
-void GPU_Init() {
+bool GPU_Init() {
 	switch (PSP_CoreParameter().gpuCore) {
 	case GPU_NULL:
 		gpu = new NullGPU();
@@ -37,12 +37,17 @@ void GPU_Init() {
 	case GPU_GLES:
 		gpu = new GLES_GPU();
 		break;
-#ifndef __SYMBIAN32__
 	case GPU_SOFTWARE:
+#ifndef __SYMBIAN32__
 		gpu = new SoftGPU();
-		break;
 #endif
+		break;
+	case GPU_DIRECTX9:
+		// TODO
+		break;
 	}
+
+	return gpu != NULL;
 }
 
 void GPU_Shutdown() {
diff --git a/GPU/GPUState.h b/GPU/GPUState.h
index 5873f672e3..9582f49c69 100644
--- a/GPU/GPUState.h
+++ b/GPU/GPUState.h
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ struct GPUStatistics {
 	int numFBOs;
 };
 
-void GPU_Init();
+bool GPU_Init();
 void GPU_Shutdown();
 
 void InitGfxState();