diff --git a/lisp/doom-start.el b/lisp/doom-start.el
index cde2d7cde..69cc9a449 100644
--- a/lisp/doom-start.el
+++ b/lisp/doom-start.el
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ If you want to disable incremental loading altogether, either remove
 `doom-incremental-first-idle-timer' to nil. Incremental loading does not occur
 in daemon sessions (they are loaded immediately at startup).")
 
-(defvar doom-incremental-first-idle-timer (if (featurep 'native-compile) 3.0 2.0)
+(defvar doom-incremental-first-idle-timer 2.0
   "How long (in idle seconds) until incremental loading starts.
 
 Set this to nil to disable incremental loading.")
@@ -100,36 +100,40 @@ Set this to nil to disable incremental loading.")
 
 If NOW is non-nil, load PACKAGES incrementally, in `doom-incremental-idle-timer'
 intervals."
-  (if (not now)
-      (appendq! doom-incremental-packages packages)
-    (if (and packages (bound-and-true-p comp-files-queue))
-        (run-with-idle-timer doom-incremental-idle-timer
-                             nil #'doom-load-packages-incrementally
-                             packages t)
+  (let ((gc-cons-threshold most-positive-fixnum))
+    (if (not now)
+        (cl-callf append doom-incremental-packages packages)
       (while packages
-        (let* ((gc-cons-threshold most-positive-fixnum)
-               (req (pop packages)))
-          (unless (featurep req)
-            (doom-log "Incrementally loading %s" req)
+        (let ((req (pop packages))
+              idle-time)
+          (if (featurep req)
+              (doom-log "[ILoader] Already loaded: %s (%d left)" req (length packages))
             (condition-case-unless-debug e
-                (or (while-no-input
-                      ;; If `default-directory' is a directory that doesn't exist
-                      ;; or is unreadable, Emacs throws up file-missing errors, so
-                      ;; we set it to a directory we know exists and is readable.
-                      (let ((default-directory doom-emacs-dir)
-                            (inhibit-message t)
-                            file-name-handler-alist)
-                        (require req nil t))
-                      t)
-                    (push req packages))
+                (and
+                 (or (null (setq idle-time (current-idle-time)))
+                     (< (float-time idle-time) doom-incremental-first-idle-timer)
+                     (not
+                      (while-no-input
+                        (doom-log "[ILoader] Loading: %s (%d left)" req (length packages))
+                        ;; If `default-directory' doesn't exist or is
+                        ;; unreadable, Emacs throws file errors.
+                        (let ((default-directory doom-emacs-dir)
+                              (inhibit-message t)
+                              (file-name-handler-alist
+                               (list (rassq 'jka-compr-handler file-name-handler-alist))))
+                          (require req nil t)
+                          t))))
+                 (push req packages))
               (error
-               (message "Failed to load %S package incrementally, because: %s"
-                        req e)))
-            (if (not packages)
-                (doom-log "Finished incremental loading")
-              (run-with-idle-timer doom-incremental-idle-timer
-                                   nil #'doom-load-packages-incrementally
-                                   packages t)
+               (message "Error: failed to incrementally load %S because: %s" req e)
+               (setq packages nil)))
+            (if (null packages)
+                (doom-log "[ILoader] Finished!")
+              (run-at-time (if idle-time
+                               doom-incremental-idle-timer
+                             doom-incremental-first-idle-timer)
+                           nil #'doom-load-packages-incrementally
+                           packages t)
               (setq packages nil))))))))
 
 (defun doom-load-packages-incrementally-h ()
diff --git a/lisp/doom.el b/lisp/doom.el
index 1ae0752e0..3e72b49a8 100644
--- a/lisp/doom.el
+++ b/lisp/doom.el
@@ -321,23 +321,16 @@ users).")
 ;;
 ;;; Native Compilation support (http://akrl.sdf.org/gccemacs.html)
 
-(when (featurep 'native-compile)
-  ;; Enable deferred compilation and disable ahead-of-time compilation, so we
-  ;; don't bog down the install process with an excruciatingly long compile
-  ;; times. It will mean more CPU time at runtime, but given its asynchronosity,
-  ;; this is acceptable.
-  (setq native-comp-deferred-compilation t
-        straight-disable-native-compile t)
-
-  ;; Suppress compiler warnings, to avoid inundating users will popups. They
-  ;; don't cause breakage, so it's not worth dedicating screen estate to them.
-  (setq native-comp-async-report-warnings-errors init-file-debug
-        native-comp-warning-on-missing-source init-file-debug)
-
+(when (boundp 'native-comp-eln-load-path)
   ;; Don't store eln files in ~/.emacs.d/eln-cache (where they can easily be
   ;; deleted by 'doom upgrade').
   ;; REVIEW Use `startup-redirect-eln-cache' when 28 support is dropped
-  (add-to-list 'native-comp-eln-load-path (expand-file-name "eln/" doom-cache-dir)))
+  (add-to-list 'native-comp-eln-load-path (expand-file-name "eln/" doom-cache-dir))
+
+  ;; UX: Suppress compiler warnings and don't inundate users with their popups.
+  ;;   They are rarely more than warnings, so are safe to ignore.
+  (setq native-comp-async-report-warnings-errors init-file-debug
+        native-comp-warning-on-missing-source init-file-debug))
 
 
 ;;