diff --git a/src/MainForm.cs b/src/MainForm.cs
index 3d697e5..a31fd9d 100644
--- a/src/MainForm.cs
+++ b/src/MainForm.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ public partial class MainForm : Form
     private readonly HashSet<string> mValidImageExtensions = new HashSet<string>{ ".png", ".jpg", ".gif" } ;
 
     private Dictionary<string,ChartImage> mChartImages = new Dictionary<string,ChartImage>() ;
+    private bool mIsReady = false ;
 
     private SplitContainer mSplitter = new SplitContainer() ;
     private UserControl mSearchUserControl = new UserControl() ;
@@ -121,6 +122,9 @@ public partial class MainForm : Form
         mSearchLabel.Enabled = true ;
         mSearchQuery.Enabled = true ;
         mSearchQuery.Focus() ;
+
+        // flag that we've finished initialization
+        mIsReady = true ;
     }
 
     private void updateSearchResults( string searchQuery )
diff --git a/src/MainForm.ui.cs b/src/MainForm.ui.cs
index 7e0886d..2f07868 100644
--- a/src/MainForm.ui.cs
+++ b/src/MainForm.ui.cs
@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ public partial class MainForm : Form
         if ( keyCode == Keys.Return )
             return true ; // nb: stop Windows from beeping :-/
 
+        // NOTE: The following keypress handling is only done after we've finished initialization.
+        if ( ! mIsReady )
+            return false ;
+
         // handle shortcuts
         if ( Shortcut.handleShortcut( keyData ) )
             return true ;