diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
index 55a9498e..3e365eab 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
@@ -197,7 +197,11 @@ class TimelineViewController: UIViewController, TimelineLikeCollectionViewContro
     
     @objc func refresh() {
         Task {
-            await controller.loadNewer()
+            if case .notLoadedInitial = await controller.state {
+                await controller.loadInitial()
+            } else {
+                await controller.loadNewer()
+            }
             #if !targetEnvironment(macCatalyst)
             collectionView.refreshControl?.endRefreshing()
             #endif
@@ -280,6 +284,8 @@ extension TimelineViewController {
     typealias TimelineItem = String // status ID
     
     func loadInitial() async throws -> [TimelineItem] {
+        try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1 * NSEC_PER_SEC)
+        
         guard let mastodonController else {
             throw Error.noClient
         }
diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Utilities/TimelineLikeCollectionViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Utilities/TimelineLikeCollectionViewController.swift
index 281cdd15..53b45631 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Utilities/TimelineLikeCollectionViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Utilities/TimelineLikeCollectionViewController.swift
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ extension TimelineLikeCollectionViewController {
     }
     
     func handleAddLoadingIndicator() async {
+        if case .loadingInitial(_, _) = await controller.state,
+           let refreshControl = collectionView.refreshControl,
+           refreshControl.isRefreshing {
+            refreshControl.beginRefreshing()
+            // if we're loading initial and the refresh control is already going, we don't need to add another indicator
+            return
+        }
+        
         var snapshot = dataSource.snapshot()
         if !snapshot.sectionIdentifiers.contains(.footer) {
             snapshot.appendSections([.footer])
@@ -77,6 +85,13 @@ extension TimelineLikeCollectionViewController {
     }
     
     func handleRemoveLoadingIndicator() async {
+        if case .loadingInitial(_, _) = await controller.state,
+           let refreshControl = collectionView.refreshControl,
+           refreshControl.isRefreshing {
+            refreshControl.endRefreshing()
+            return
+        }
+        
         let oldContentOffset = collectionView.contentOffset
         var snapshot = dataSource.snapshot()
         snapshot.deleteSections([.footer])
diff --git a/Tusker/TimelineLikeController.swift b/Tusker/TimelineLikeController.swift
index 525e5d87..8d05d566 100644
--- a/Tusker/TimelineLikeController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/TimelineLikeController.swift
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ actor TimelineLikeController<Item> {
         } catch {
             await loadingIndicator.end()
             await emit(event: .loadAllError(error, token))
-            state = .idle
+            state = .notLoadedInitial
         }
     }
     
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ actor TimelineLikeController<Item> {
                     return false
                 }
             case .loadingInitial(let token, let hasAddedLoadingIndicator):
-                return to == .idle || (!hasAddedLoadingIndicator && to == .loadingInitial(token, hasAddedLoadingIndicator: true))
+                return to == .notLoadedInitial || to == .idle || (!hasAddedLoadingIndicator && to == .loadingInitial(token, hasAddedLoadingIndicator: true))
             case .loadingNewer(_):
                 return to == .idle
             case .loadingOlder(let token, let hasAddedLoadingIndicator):