diff --git a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
index e2f423d07..5bb44f341 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
@@ -254,10 +254,7 @@ class TerminalController: NSWindowController, NSWindowDelegate,
         // Center the window to start, we'll move the window frame automatically
         // when cascading.
         window.center()
-        
-        // Set the background color of the window
-        window.backgroundColor = NSColor(ghostty.config.backgroundColor)
-        
+
         // Handle titlebar tabs config option. Something about what we do while setting up the
         // titlebar tabs interferes with the window restore process unless window.tabbingMode
         // is set to .preferred, so we set it, and switch back to automatic as soon as we can.
@@ -268,17 +265,20 @@ class TerminalController: NSWindowController, NSWindowDelegate,
             DispatchQueue.main.async {
                 window.tabbingMode = .automatic
             }
+            
+            // Set the background color of the window
+            window.backgroundColor = NSColor(ghostty.config.backgroundColor)
+
+            // Set a custom background on the titlebar - this is required for when
+            // titlebar tabs are used in conjunction with a transparent background.
+            window.setTitlebarBackground(
+                window
+                    .backgroundColor
+                    .withAlphaComponent(ghostty.config.backgroundOpacity)
+                    .cgColor
+            )
         }
-        
-        // Set a custom background on the titlebar - this is required for when
-        // titlebar tabs is used in conjunction with a transparent background.
-        window.setTitlebarBackground(
-            window
-                .backgroundColor
-                .withAlphaComponent(ghostty.config.backgroundOpacity)
-                .cgColor
-        )
-        
+
         // Initialize our content view to the SwiftUI root
         window.contentView = NSHostingView(rootView: TerminalView(
             ghostty: self.ghostty,