diff --git a/ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.tsx b/ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.tsx
index 3b9f8f87c7..1b816be680 100644
--- a/ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ import { ContactName } from './conversation/ContactName';
 import { useIntersectionObserver } from '../util/hooks';
 import { MAX_FRAME_SIZE } from '../calling/constants';
 
+const MAX_TIME_TO_SHOW_STALE_VIDEO_FRAMES = 5000;
+
 type BasePropsType = {
   getFrameBuffer: () => ArrayBuffer;
   getGroupCallVideoFrameSource: (demuxId: number) => VideoFrameSource;
@@ -68,12 +70,24 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
       videoAspectRatio,
     } = props.remoteParticipant;
 
+    const [hasReceivedVideoRecently, setHasReceivedVideoRecently] = useState(
+      false
+    );
     const [isWide, setIsWide] = useState<boolean>(
       videoAspectRatio ? videoAspectRatio >= 1 : true
     );
     const [hasHover, setHover] = useState(false);
     const [showBlockInfo, setShowBlockInfo] = useState(false);
 
+    // We have some state (`hasReceivedVideoRecently`) and this ref. We can't have a
+    //   single state value like `lastReceivedVideoAt` because (1) it won't automatically
+    //   trigger a re-render after the video has become stale (2) it would cause a full
+    //   re-render of the component for every frame, which is way too often.
+    //
+    // Alternatively, we could create a timeout that's reset every time we get a video
+    //   frame (perhaps using a debounce function), but that becomes harder to clean up
+    //   when the component unmounts.
+    const lastReceivedVideoAt = useRef(-Infinity);
     const remoteVideoRef = useRef<HTMLCanvasElement | null>(null);
     const canvasContextRef = useRef<CanvasRenderingContext2D | null>(null);
 
@@ -85,12 +99,22 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
       ? intersectionObserverEntry.isIntersecting
       : true;
 
+    const wantsToShowVideo = hasRemoteVideo && !isBlocked && isVisible;
+    const hasVideoToShow = wantsToShowVideo && hasReceivedVideoRecently;
+
     const videoFrameSource = useMemo(
       () => getGroupCallVideoFrameSource(demuxId),
       [getGroupCallVideoFrameSource, demuxId]
     );
 
     const renderVideoFrame = useCallback(() => {
+      if (
+        Date.now() - lastReceivedVideoAt.current >
+        MAX_TIME_TO_SHOW_STALE_VIDEO_FRAMES
+      ) {
+        setHasReceivedVideoRecently(false);
+      }
+
       const canvasEl = remoteVideoRef.current;
       if (!canvasEl) {
         return;
@@ -133,9 +157,18 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
         0
       );
 
+      lastReceivedVideoAt.current = Date.now();
+
+      setHasReceivedVideoRecently(true);
       setIsWide(frameWidth > frameHeight);
     }, [getFrameBuffer, videoFrameSource]);
 
+    useEffect(() => {
+      if (!hasRemoteVideo) {
+        setHasReceivedVideoRecently(false);
+      }
+    }, [hasRemoteVideo]);
+
     useEffect(() => {
       if (!hasRemoteVideo || !isVisible) {
         return noop;
@@ -198,7 +231,6 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
     }
 
     const showHover = hasHover && !props.isInPip;
-    const canShowVideo = hasRemoteVideo && !isBlocked && isVisible;
 
     return (
       <>
@@ -254,10 +286,16 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
               />
             </div>
           )}
-          {canShowVideo ? (
+          {wantsToShowVideo && (
             <canvas
               className="module-ongoing-call__group-call-remote-participant__remote-video"
-              style={canvasStyles}
+              style={{
+                ...canvasStyles,
+                // If we want to show video but don't have any yet, we still render the
+                //   canvas invisibly. This lets us render frame data immediately without
+                //   having to juggle anything.
+                ...(hasVideoToShow ? {} : { display: 'none' }),
+              }}
               ref={canvasEl => {
                 remoteVideoRef.current = canvasEl;
                 if (canvasEl) {
@@ -271,7 +309,8 @@ export const GroupCallRemoteParticipant: React.FC<PropsType> = React.memo(
                 }
               }}
             />
-          ) : (
+          )}
+          {!hasVideoToShow && (
             <CallBackgroundBlur avatarPath={avatarPath} color={color}>
               {isBlocked ? (
                 <>
diff --git a/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json b/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
index 3b4b94e25a..13dee5be6b 100644
--- a/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
+++ b/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
@@ -13570,6 +13570,22 @@
     "updated": "2020-11-17T23:29:38.698Z",
     "reasonDetail": "Doesn't touch the DOM."
   },
+  {
+    "rule": "React-useRef",
+    "path": "ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.js",
+    "line": "    const lastReceivedVideoAt = react_1.useRef(-Infinity);",
+    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
+    "updated": "2021-06-17T20:46:02.342Z",
+    "reasonDetail": "Doesn't reference the DOM."
+  },
+  {
+    "rule": "React-useRef",
+    "path": "ts/components/GroupCallRemoteParticipant.tsx",
+    "line": "    const lastReceivedVideoAt = useRef(-Infinity);",
+    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
+    "updated": "2021-06-17T20:46:02.342Z",
+    "reasonDetail": "Doesn't reference the DOM."
+  },
   {
     "rule": "React-useRef",
     "path": "ts/components/GroupDescriptionInput.js",