diff --git a/kernel/SlippiFileWriter.c b/kernel/SlippiFileWriter.c
index 030eac85..4b0fb05f 100644
--- a/kernel/SlippiFileWriter.c
+++ b/kernel/SlippiFileWriter.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "debug.h"
 #include "string.h"
 #include "ff_utf8.h"
+#include "net.h"
 
 #include "Config.h"
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ u32 gameStartTime;
 
 void SlippiFileWriterInit()
 {
+	GetMacAddress(); // need to set the mac address before it can be used
 	Slippi_Thread = do_thread_create(
 		SlippiHandlerThread,
 		((u32 *)&__slippi_stack_addr),
diff --git a/kernel/net.c b/kernel/net.c
index 16aab609..306b557e 100644
--- a/kernel/net.c
+++ b/kernel/net.c
@@ -34,26 +34,8 @@ static const char top_name[15] ALIGNED(32) = "/dev/net/ip/top";
 int NCDInit(void)
 {
 	s32 res;
-	STACK_ALIGN(ioctlv, mac_vec, 2, 32);
-	dbgprintf("entered NCDInit()\n");
-
-	/* Fetch the MAC address of the Wi-Fi interface for use later when we
-	 * broadcast messages to potential Slippi clients.
-	 */
-
-	s32 ncd_fd = IOS_Open(ncd_name, 0);
-	void *ncd_buf = heap_alloc_aligned(0, 32, 32);
-	dbgprintf("ncd_fd: %i\n", ncd_fd);
-
-	mac_vec[0].data	= ncd_buf;
-	mac_vec[0].len	= 32;
-	mac_vec[1].data	= &wifi_mac_address;
-	mac_vec[1].len	= 6;
-
-	res = IOS_Ioctlv(ncd_fd, IOCTLV_NCD_GETMACADDRESS, 0, 2, mac_vec);
-	IOS_Close(ncd_fd);
-	heap_free(0, ncd_buf);
-
+	
+	GetMacAddress();
 
 	/* NWC24 initialization. This happens in libogc, but do we actually
 	 * *need* to do this? Is NWC24 state somehow tied to whether or not
@@ -94,6 +76,29 @@ int NCDInit(void)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+void GetMacAddress(void) {
+	s32 res;
+	STACK_ALIGN(ioctlv, mac_vec, 2, 32);
+	dbgprintf("entered NCDInit()\n");
+
+	/* Fetch the MAC address of the Wi-Fi interface for use later when we
+	 * broadcast messages to potential Slippi clients.
+	 */
+
+	s32 ncd_fd = IOS_Open(ncd_name, 0);
+	void *ncd_buf = heap_alloc_aligned(0, 32, 32);
+	dbgprintf("ncd_fd: %i\n", ncd_fd);
+
+	mac_vec[0].data	= ncd_buf;
+	mac_vec[0].len	= 32;
+	mac_vec[1].data	= &wifi_mac_address;
+	mac_vec[1].len	= 6;
+
+	res = IOS_Ioctlv(ncd_fd, IOCTLV_NCD_GETMACADDRESS, 0, 2, mac_vec);
+	IOS_Close(ncd_fd);
+	heap_free(0, ncd_buf);
+}
+
 
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  * Socket API functions
diff --git a/kernel/net.h b/kernel/net.h
index 13f23960..72ba6451 100644
--- a/kernel/net.h
+++ b/kernel/net.h
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ enum {
 /* Function declarations */
 
 int NCDInit(void);
+void GetMacAddress(void);
 s32 socket(s32 fd, u32 domain, u32 type, u32 protocol);
 s32 close(s32 fd, s32 socket);
 s32 bind(s32 fd, s32 socket, struct sockaddr *name);
diff --git a/loader/loader.dol b/loader/loader.dol
index 669482fa..2d0e2e40 100644
Binary files a/loader/loader.dol and b/loader/loader.dol differ