diff --git a/SPD-classes/src/main/java/com/watabou/input/ControllerHandler.java b/SPD-classes/src/main/java/com/watabou/input/ControllerHandler.java
index 48bbb573e..b1817aeae 100644
--- a/SPD-classes/src/main/java/com/watabou/input/ControllerHandler.java
+++ b/SPD-classes/src/main/java/com/watabou/input/ControllerHandler.java
@@ -59,10 +59,25 @@ public class ControllerHandler implements ControllerListener {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private static boolean initialized = false;
+	private static boolean failedInit = false;
+
 	public static boolean controllersSupported() {
 		if (DeviceCompat.isAndroid() && Gdx.app.getVersion() < 16) {
 			return false;
+		} else if (failedInit) {
+			return false;
+		} else if (initialized){
+			return true;
 		} else {
+			try {
+				//we do this to call Controllers.initialize(), which can fail in certain cases
+				// e.g. missing natives on very old 32-bit desktop platforms
+				Controllers.getCurrent();
+				initialized = true;
+			} catch (Exception e){
+				failedInit = true;
+			}
 			return true;
 		}
 	}