diff --git a/packages/components/src/components/SquiggleChart.tsx b/packages/components/src/components/SquiggleChart.tsx
index 088b49bf..86b2b078 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/components/SquiggleChart.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/components/SquiggleChart.tsx
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ export const SquiggleChart: React.FC<SquiggleChartProps> = React.memo(
       environment,
       jsImports,
       onChange,
+      executionId,
     });
 
     const distributionPlotSettings = {
diff --git a/packages/components/src/components/SquigglePlayground.tsx b/packages/components/src/components/SquigglePlayground.tsx
index c7e63f4e..2477f22f 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/components/SquigglePlayground.tsx
+++ b/packages/components/src/components/SquigglePlayground.tsx
@@ -278,17 +278,18 @@ export const SquigglePlayground: FC<PlaygroundProps> = ({
     executionId,
   } = useRunnerState(code);
 
-  const squiggleChart = (
-    <SquiggleChart
-      code={renderedCode}
-      executionId={executionId}
-      environment={env}
-      {...vars}
-      bindings={defaultBindings}
-      jsImports={imports}
-      enableLocalSettings={true}
-    />
-  );
+  const squiggleChart =
+    renderedCode === "" ? null : (
+      <SquiggleChart
+        code={renderedCode}
+        executionId={executionId}
+        environment={env}
+        {...vars}
+        bindings={defaultBindings}
+        jsImports={imports}
+        enableLocalSettings={true}
+      />
+    );
 
   const firstTab = vars.showEditor ? (
     <div className="border border-slate-200">
diff --git a/packages/components/src/lib/hooks/useRunnerState.ts b/packages/components/src/lib/hooks/useRunnerState.ts
index 861861d8..ff148d69 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/lib/hooks/useRunnerState.ts
+++ b/packages/components/src/lib/hooks/useRunnerState.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useEffect, useReducer } from "react";
+import { useLayoutEffect, useReducer } from "react";
 
 type State = {
   autorunMode: boolean;
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ type State = {
 
 const buildInitialState = (code: string): State => ({
   autorunMode: true,
-  renderedCode: code,
+  renderedCode: "",
   runningState: "none",
   executionId: 1,
 });
@@ -62,9 +62,13 @@ const reducer = (state: State, action: Action): State => {
 export const useRunnerState = (code: string) => {
   const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(reducer, buildInitialState(code));
 
-  useEffect(() => {
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (state.runningState === "prepared") {
-      dispatch({ type: "RUN", code });
+      // this is necessary for async playground loading - otherwise it executes the code synchronously on the initial load
+      // (it's surprising that this is necessary, but empirically it _is_ necessary, both with `useEffect` and `useLayoutEffect`)
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        dispatch({ type: "RUN", code });
+      }, 0);
     } else if (state.runningState === "run") {
       dispatch({ type: "STOP_RUN" });
     }