diff --git a/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/sources/es_settings b/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/sources/es_settings
index 6dae2d01d6..7b7e36d23b 100755
--- a/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/sources/es_settings
+++ b/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/sources/es_settings
@@ -10,8 +10,15 @@ export SDL_AUDIODRIVER=pulseaudio
 
 TZ=$(get_setting system.timezone)
 echo -n "TIMEZONE=${TZ}" > /storage/.cache/timezone
+# es_settings is ExecStartPre for emustation.service, so it runs on every ES
+# (re)start. Restarting tz-data is synchronous and blocks the ES relaunch
+# (a visible chunk of the "Restart EmulationStation" black screen), yet it
+# only matters when the timezone changed. Skip it otherwise.
+PREV_TZ="$(cat /storage/.cache/system_timezone 2>/dev/null)"
 echo -n "${TZ}" >/storage/.cache/system_timezone
-systemctl restart tz-data.service
+if [ "${TZ}" != "${PREV_TZ}" ]; then
+  systemctl restart tz-data.service
+fi
 
 MYLOCALE=$(get_setting system.language)
 if [[ -n "${MYLOCALE}" ]]
diff --git a/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/system.d/emustation.service b/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/system.d/emustation.service
index baa977733e..e8cd50d74d 100644
--- a/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/system.d/emustation.service
+++ b/projects/ArchR/packages/ui/emulationstation/system.d/emustation.service
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@ ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/es_settings
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/emulationstation --log-path /var/log --no-splash
 KillMode=process
 TimeoutStopSec=3
+# RestartSec is pure dead time on a user-initiated "Restart EmulationStation"
+# (and after a crash). StartLimitIntervalSec/StartLimitBurst above already
+# stop a crash-loop from flooding, so keep just enough debounce to avoid a
+# tight loop.
 Restart=always
-RestartSec=2
+RestartSec=1
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=archr.target