diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/jme/JmeApp.java b/src/java/com/threerings/jme/JmeApp.java
index f845d8cea..fc29a1ef1 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/jme/JmeApp.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/jme/JmeApp.java
@@ -129,13 +129,6 @@ public class JmeApp
             _root.updateGeometricState(0f, true);
             _root.updateRenderState();
 
-            // create and add our statistics display
-            if (displayStatistics()) {
-                _stats = new StatsDisplay(_display.getRenderer());
-                _stats.updateGeometricState(0f, true);
-                _stats.updateRenderState();
-            }
-
             return true;
 
         } catch (Throwable t) {
@@ -144,6 +137,21 @@ public class JmeApp
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Configures whether or not we display FPS and other statistics atop the
+     * display.
+     */
+    public void displayStatistics (boolean display)
+    {
+        if (display && (_stats == null)) {
+            _stats = new StatsDisplay(_display.getRenderer());
+            _stats.updateGeometricState(0f, true);
+            _stats.updateRenderState();
+        } else if (!display && (_stats != null)) {
+            _stats = null;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Starts up the main rendering and event processing loop. This method
      * will not return until the application is terminated with a call to
@@ -456,15 +464,6 @@ public class JmeApp
         System.exit(0);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * If true we'll display some renderer statistics at the bottom of the
-     * screen.
-     */
-    protected boolean displayStatistics ()
-    {
-        return false;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Prepends the necessary bits onto the supplied path to properly
      * locate it in our configuration directory.