diff --git a/crates/bootstrap/src/plugins.rs b/crates/bootstrap/src/plugins.rs
index 1b74df6..71cf212 100644
--- a/crates/bootstrap/src/plugins.rs
+++ b/crates/bootstrap/src/plugins.rs
@@ -80,6 +80,16 @@ pub fn add_runtime_plugins_with_role(app: &mut App, role: RuntimeRole) {
         render_app.edit_schedule(bevy::render::ExtractSchedule, |schedule| {
             schedule.set_executor(bevy::ecs::schedule::SingleThreadedExecutor::new());
         });
+        if cfg!(target_os = "macos") && pipelined_rendering() {
+            // The Metal surface must be created on the main thread; pipelined, only
+            // extraction runs there.
+            render_app.add_systems(
+                bevy::render::ExtractSchedule,
+                bevy::render::view::create_surfaces
+                    .run_if(bevy::render::view::need_surface_configuration)
+                    .after(bevy::render::camera::extract_cameras),
+            );
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -128,11 +138,7 @@ const PIPELINED_RENDERING_ENV: &str = "IW4L_PIPELINED_RENDERING";
 /// boundary; the bounded render channel permits one outstanding frame.
 /// Set IW4L_PIPELINED_RENDERING=0 for synchronous presentation.
 ///
-/// Off by default on macOS: AppKit only lets the main thread touch the NSView
-/// behind the Metal surface. Bevy hands `create_surfaces` back to the main
-/// thread through the multi-threaded executor, which the single-threaded
-/// `Render` schedule above bypasses, so the render thread would create it and
-/// panic in `raw-window-metal`.
+/// Off by default on macOS.
 fn pipelined_rendering() -> bool {
     match std::env::var_os(PIPELINED_RENDERING_ENV) {
         None => !cfg!(target_os = "macos"),
diff --git a/docs/BUILD.md b/docs/BUILD.md
index 43d543e..c622514 100644
--- a/docs/BUILD.md
+++ b/docs/BUILD.md
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ macOS needs only the Xcode command line tools (`xcode-select --install`)
 and rustup: winit, wgpu (Metal), CoreAudio and gilrs link system frameworks,
 and the `x11` / `wayland` features compile to nothing. Menu and
 `make map mp_boneyard` run on Apple silicon (M2 Max, Metal). Pipelined
-rendering is off by default there (`bootstrap/src/plugins.rs` says why).
+rendering is off by default there; `IW4L_PIPELINED_RENDERING=1` turns it on.
 Game data: the Windows depot of a Steam copy, `steamcmd
 +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +force_install_dir ~/Games/MW2 +login
 <user> +app_update 10190 +quit`, then `IW4L_GAMES=~/Games`.