diff --git a/neo/framework/FileSystem.cpp b/neo/framework/FileSystem.cpp
index d47015c8..c7e13437 100644
--- a/neo/framework/FileSystem.cpp
+++ b/neo/framework/FileSystem.cpp
@@ -2676,12 +2676,20 @@ void idFileSystemLocal::Init( void ) {
 	// spawn a thread to handle background file reads
 	StartBackgroundDownloadThread();
 
-	// if we can't find default.cfg, assume that the paths are
-	// busted and error out now, rather than getting an unreadable
-	// graphics screen when the font fails to load
-	// Dedicated servers can run with no outside files at all
 	if ( ReadFile( "default.cfg", NULL, NULL ) <= 0 ) {
-		common->FatalError( "Couldn't load default.cfg" );
+		// DG: the demo gamedata is in demo/ instead of base/. to make it "just work", add a fallback for that
+		if(fs_game.GetString()[0] == '\0' || idStr::Icmp(fs_game.GetString(), BASE_GAMEDIR) == 0) {
+			common->Warning("Couldn't find default.cfg in %s/, trying again with demo/\n", BASE_GAMEDIR);
+			fs_game.SetString("demo");
+			fs_game_base.SetString("demo");
+			Restart();
+		} else {
+			// if we can't find default.cfg, assume that the paths are
+			// busted and error out now, rather than getting an unreadable
+			// graphics screen when the font fails to load
+			// Dedicated servers can run with no outside files at all
+			common->FatalError( "Couldn't load default.cfg" );
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2696,6 +2704,9 @@ void idFileSystemLocal::Restart( void ) {
 
 	Startup( );
 
+	// spawn a thread to handle background file reads
+	StartBackgroundDownloadThread();
+
 	// if we can't find default.cfg, assume that the paths are
 	// busted and error out now, rather than getting an unreadable
 	// graphics screen when the font fails to load