diff --git a/library/Core.cpp b/library/Core.cpp
index 256493dce..431cd2c9f 100644
--- a/library/Core.cpp
+++ b/library/Core.cpp
@@ -1682,8 +1682,10 @@ bool Core::InitSimulationThread()
         fatal("cannot bind SDL libraries");
         return false;
     }
-    if (DFSteam::init(con))
+    if (DFSteam::init(con)) {
         std::cerr << "Found Steam.\n";
+        DFSteam::launchSteamDFHackIfNecessary(con);
+    }
     std::cerr << "Initializing textures.\n";
     Textures::init(con);
     // create mutex for syncing with interactive tasks
@@ -2291,7 +2293,7 @@ int Core::Shutdown ( void )
     allModules.clear();
     Textures::cleanup();
     DFSDL::cleanup();
-    DFSteam::cleanup();
+    DFSteam::cleanup(getConsole());
     memset(&(s_mods), 0, sizeof(s_mods));
     d.reset();
     return -1;
diff --git a/library/include/modules/DFSteam.h b/library/include/modules/DFSteam.h
index 3144830da..e604294f8 100644
--- a/library/include/modules/DFSteam.h
+++ b/library/include/modules/DFSteam.h
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ bool init(DFHack::color_ostream& out);
 /**
  * Call this when DFHack is being unloaded.
  */
-void cleanup();
+void cleanup(DFHack::color_ostream& out);
 
-DFHACK_EXPORT bool DFIsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck();
+DFHACK_EXPORT void launchSteamDFHackIfNecessary(DFHack::color_ostream& out);
 
 }
 }
diff --git a/library/modules/DFSteam.cpp b/library/modules/DFSteam.cpp
index b27cc1744..c61d996d1 100644
--- a/library/modules/DFSteam.cpp
+++ b/library/modules/DFSteam.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ DBG_DECLARE(core, dfsteam, DebugCategory::LINFO);
 
 using namespace DFHack;
 
+static const int DFHACK_STEAM_APPID = 2346660;
+
+static bool g_steam_initialized = false;
 static DFLibrary* g_steam_handle = nullptr;
 static const std::vector<std::string> STEAM_LIBS {
     "steam_api64.dll",
@@ -21,8 +24,32 @@ static const std::vector<std::string> STEAM_LIBS {
 
 bool (*g_SteamAPI_Init)() = nullptr;
 void (*g_SteamAPI_Shutdown)() = nullptr;
+int (*g_SteamAPI_GetHSteamUser)() = nullptr;
+bool (*g_SteamAPI_RestartAppIfNecessary)(uint32_t unOwnAppID) = nullptr;
 void* (*g_SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface)(int, const char*) = nullptr;
-bool (*g_SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_IsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck)(void*) = nullptr;
+bool (*g_SteamAPI_ISteamApps_BIsAppInstalled)(void *iSteamApps, uint32_t appID) = nullptr;
+
+
+static void bind_all(color_ostream& out, DFLibrary* handle) {
+#define bind(name) \
+        if (!handle) { \
+            g_##name = nullptr; \
+        } else { \
+            g_##name = (decltype(g_##name))LookupPlugin(handle, #name); \
+            if (!g_##name) { \
+                WARN(dfsteam, out).print("steam library function not found: " #name "\n"); \
+            } \
+        }
+
+    bind(SteamAPI_Init);
+    bind(SteamAPI_Shutdown);
+    bind(SteamAPI_GetHSteamUser);
+    bind(SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface);
+    bind(SteamAPI_RestartAppIfNecessary);
+    bind(SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface);
+    bind(SteamAPI_ISteamApps_BIsAppInstalled);
+#undef bind
+}
 
 bool DFSteam::init(color_ostream& out) {
     for (auto& lib_str : STEAM_LIBS) {
@@ -34,30 +61,19 @@ bool DFSteam::init(color_ostream& out) {
         return false;
     }
 
-#define bind(handle, name) \
-        g_##name = (decltype(g_##name))LookupPlugin(handle, #name); \
-        if (!g_##name) { \
-            WARN(dfsteam, out).print("steam library function not found: " #name "\n"); \
-        }
-
-    bind(g_steam_handle, SteamAPI_Init);
-    bind(g_steam_handle, SteamAPI_Shutdown);
+    bind_all(out, g_steam_handle);
 
-    // TODO: can we remove this initialization of the Steam API once we move to dfhooks?
     if (!g_SteamAPI_Init || !g_SteamAPI_Shutdown || !g_SteamAPI_Init()) {
         DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("steam detected but cannot be initialized\n");
         return false;
     }
 
-    bind(g_steam_handle, SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface);
-    bind(g_steam_handle, SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_IsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck);
-#undef bind
-
     DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("steam library linked\n");
+    g_steam_initialized = true;
     return true;
 }
 
-void DFSteam::cleanup() {
+void DFSteam::cleanup(color_ostream& out) {
     if (!g_steam_handle)
         return;
 
@@ -66,16 +82,78 @@ void DFSteam::cleanup() {
 
     ClosePlugin(g_steam_handle);
     g_steam_handle = nullptr;
+
+    bind_all(out, nullptr);
+    g_steam_initialized = false;
 }
 
-bool DFSteam::DFIsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck() {
-    if (!g_SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_IsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck)
+#ifdef WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+static bool is_running_on_wine() {
+    typedef const char* (CDECL wine_get_version)(void);
+    static wine_get_version* pwine_get_version;
+    HMODULE hntdll = GetModuleHandle("ntdll.dll");
+    if(!hntdll)
         return false;
 
-    if (!g_SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface)
+    pwine_get_version = (wine_get_version*) GetProcAddress(hntdll, "wine_get_version");
+    return !!pwine_get_version;
+}
+
+static bool launchDFHack(color_ostream& out) {
+    if (is_running_on_wine()) {
+        DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("not attempting to re-launch DFHack on wine\n");
         return false;
+    }
+
+    STARTUPINFOW si;
+    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
+
+    ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
+    si.cb = sizeof(si);
+    ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
 
-    void* SteamUtils = g_SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface(0, "SteamUtils010");
+    // note that the enviornment must be explicitly zeroed out and not NULL,
+    // otherwise the launched process will inherit this process's environment,
+    // and the Steam API in the launchdf process will think it is in DF's context.
+    BOOL res = CreateProcessW(L"hack/launchdf.exe",
+            NULL, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, "\0", NULL, &si, &pi);
+
+    return !!res;
+}
+#else
+static bool launchDFHack(color_ostream& out) {
+    // TODO once we have a non-Windows build to work with
+    return false;
+}
+#endif
+
+void DFSteam::launchSteamDFHackIfNecessary(color_ostream& out) {
+    if (!g_steam_initialized ||
+            !g_SteamAPI_GetHSteamUser ||
+            !g_SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface ||
+            !g_SteamAPI_ISteamApps_BIsAppInstalled) {
+        DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("required Steam API calls are unavailable\n");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (strncmp(getenv("SteamClientLaunch"), "1", 2)) {
+        DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("not launched from Steam client\n");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    void* iSteamApps = g_SteamInternal_FindOrCreateUserInterface(g_SteamAPI_GetHSteamUser(), "STEAMAPPS_INTERFACE_VERSION008");
+    if (!iSteamApps) {
+        DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("cannot obtain iSteamApps interface\n");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    bool isDFHackInstalled = g_SteamAPI_ISteamApps_BIsAppInstalled(iSteamApps, DFHACK_STEAM_APPID);
+    if (!isDFHackInstalled) {
+        DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("player has not installed DFHack through Steam\n");
+        return;
+    }
 
-    return g_SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_IsSteamRunningOnSteamDeck(SteamUtils);
+    bool ret = launchDFHack(out);
+    DEBUG(dfsteam, out).print("launching DFHack via Steam: %s\n", ret ? "successful" : "unsuccessful");
 }
diff --git a/package/windows/launchdf.cpp b/package/windows/launchdf.cpp
index a84465f53..8e6536743 100644
--- a/package/windows/launchdf.cpp
+++ b/package/windows/launchdf.cpp
@@ -113,6 +113,24 @@ DWORD findDwarfFortressProcess()
     return -1;
 }
 
+bool waitForDF() {
+    DWORD df_pid = findDwarfFortressProcess();
+
+    if (df_pid == -1)
+        return false;
+
+    HANDLE hDF = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | SYNCHRONIZE, FALSE, df_pid);
+
+    // in the future open an IPC connection so that we can proxy SteamAPI calls for the DFSteam module
+
+    // this will eventuallyh need to become a loop with a WaitForMultipleObjects call
+    WaitForSingleObject(hDF, INFINITE);
+
+    CloseHandle(hDF);
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, _In_ LPWSTR lpCmdLine, _In_ int nShowCmd) {
 
     // initialize steam context
@@ -133,6 +151,9 @@ int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
         exit(0);
     }
 
+    if (waitForDF())
+        exit(0);
+
     bool wine = is_running_on_wine();
 
     if (wine)
@@ -187,37 +208,25 @@ int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
         exit(1);
     }
 
-    DWORD df_pid = findDwarfFortressProcess();
+    if (waitForDF())
+        exit(0);
 
-    if (df_pid == -1)
+    LPCWSTR err = launch_via_steam_windows();
+    if (err != NULL)
     {
-        LPCWSTR err = launch_via_steam_windows();
-        if (err != NULL)
+        MessageBoxW(NULL, err, NULL, 0);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    int counter = 0;
+    while (!waitForDF()) {
+        if (counter++ > 60)
         {
-            MessageBoxW(NULL, err, NULL, 0);
+            MessageBoxW(NULL, L"Dwarf Fortress took too long to launch, aborting", NULL, 0);
             exit(1);
         }
-        int counter = 0;
-
-        do {
-            if (counter++ > 60)
-            {
-                MessageBoxW(NULL, L"Dwarf Fortress took too long to launch, aborting", NULL, 0);
-                exit(1);
-            }
-            Sleep(1000);
-            df_pid = findDwarfFortressProcess();
-        } while (df_pid == -1);
+        Sleep(1000);
     }
 
-    HANDLE hDF = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | SYNCHRONIZE, FALSE, df_pid);
-
-    // in the future open an IPC connection so that we can proxy SteamAPI calls for the DFSteam module
-
-    // this will eventuallyh need to become a loop with a WaitForMultipleObjects call
-    WaitForSingleObject(hDF, INFINITE);
-
-    CloseHandle(hDF);
-
     exit(0);
 }