diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView.swift
index 91f2f5263..8448cb5d2 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView.swift
@@ -74,6 +74,35 @@ extension Ghostty {
                             windowFocus = false
                         }
                     }
+                    .onAppear() {
+                        // Welcome to the SwiftUI bug house of horrors. On macOS 12 (at least
+                        // 12.5.1, didn't test other versions), the order in which the view
+                        // is added to the window hierarchy is such that $surfaceFocus is
+                        // not set to true for the first surface in a window. As a result,
+                        // new windows are key (they have window focus) but the terminal surface
+                        // does not have surface until the user clicks. Bad!
+                        //
+                        // There is a very real chance that I am doing something wrong, but it
+                        // works great as-is on macOS 13, so I've instead decided to make the
+                        // older macOS hacky. A workaround is on initial appearance to "steal
+                        // focus" under certain conditions that seem to imply we're in the
+                        // screwy state.
+                        if #available(macOS 13, *) {
+                            // If we're on a more modern version of macOS, do nothing.
+                            return
+                        }
+                        if #available(macOS 12, *) {
+                            // On macOS 13, the view is attached to a window at this point,
+                            // so this is one extra check that we're a new view and behaving odd.
+                            guard surfaceView.window == nil else { return }
+                            DispatchQueue.main.async {
+                                surfaceFocus = true
+                            }
+                        }
+                        
+                        // I don't know how older macOS versions behave but Ghostty only
+                        // supports back to macOS 12 so its moot.
+                    }
             }
             .ghosttySurfaceView(surfaceView)
         }