diff --git a/src/@types/global.d.ts b/src/@types/global.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7aec4de95c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/@types/global.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+interface Window {
+    Olm: {
+        init: () => Promise<void>;
+    };
+}
diff --git a/src/vector/app.js b/src/vector/app.js
index 6a1635dd50..8bf735313a 100644
--- a/src/vector/app.js
+++ b/src/vector/app.js
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-import olmWasmPath from 'olm/olm.wasm';
-
 import React from 'react';
 // add React and ReactPerf to the global namespace, to make them easier to
 // access via the console
@@ -44,10 +42,9 @@ import SettingsStore from "matrix-react-sdk/src/settings/SettingsStore";
 import SdkConfig from "matrix-react-sdk/src/SdkConfig";
 import {setTheme} from "matrix-react-sdk/src/theme";
 
-import Olm from 'olm';
-
 import CallHandler from 'matrix-react-sdk/src/CallHandler';
 import {loadConfig, preparePlatform} from "./initial-load";
+import {loadOlm} from "./init";
 
 let lastLocationHashSet = null;
 
@@ -308,43 +305,6 @@ export async function loadApp() {
     }
 }
 
-function loadOlm() {
-    /* Load Olm. We try the WebAssembly version first, and then the legacy,
-     * asm.js version if that fails. For this reason we need to wait for this
-     * to finish before continuing to load the rest of the app. In future
-     * we could somehow pass a promise down to react-sdk and have it wait on
-     * that so olm can be loading in parallel with the rest of the app.
-     *
-     * We also need to tell the Olm js to look for its wasm file at the same
-     * level as index.html. It really should be in the same place as the js,
-     * ie. in the bundle directory, but as far as I can tell this is
-     * completely impossible with webpack. We do, however, use a hashed
-     * filename to avoid caching issues.
-     */
-    return Olm.init({
-        locateFile: () => olmWasmPath,
-    }).then(() => {
-        console.log("Using WebAssembly Olm");
-    }).catch((e) => {
-        console.log("Failed to load Olm: trying legacy version", e);
-        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-            const s = document.createElement('script');
-            s.src = 'olm_legacy.js'; // XXX: This should be cache-busted too
-            s.onload = resolve;
-            s.onerror = reject;
-            document.body.appendChild(s);
-        }).then(() => {
-            // Init window.Olm, ie. the one just loaded by the script tag,
-            // not 'Olm' which is still the failed wasm version.
-            return window.Olm.init();
-        }).then(() => {
-            console.log("Using legacy Olm");
-        }).catch((e) => {
-            console.log("Both WebAssembly and asm.js Olm failed!", e);
-        });
-    });
-}
-
 async function loadLanguage() {
     const prefLang = SettingsStore.getValue("language", null, /*excludeDefault=*/true);
     let langs = [];
diff --git a/src/vector/init.ts b/src/vector/init.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a51987b194
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vector/init.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+Copyright 2018, 2019 New Vector Ltd
+Copyright 2019 Michael Telatynski <7t3chguy@gmail.com>
+Copyright 2020 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// @ts-ignore
+import olmWasmPath from "olm/olm.wasm";
+import Olm from 'olm';
+
+export function loadOlm() {
+    /* Load Olm. We try the WebAssembly version first, and then the legacy,
+     * asm.js version if that fails. For this reason we need to wait for this
+     * to finish before continuing to load the rest of the app. In future
+     * we could somehow pass a promise down to react-sdk and have it wait on
+     * that so olm can be loading in parallel with the rest of the app.
+     *
+     * We also need to tell the Olm js to look for its wasm file at the same
+     * level as index.html. It really should be in the same place as the js,
+     * ie. in the bundle directory, but as far as I can tell this is
+     * completely impossible with webpack. We do, however, use a hashed
+     * filename to avoid caching issues.
+     */
+    return Olm.init({
+        locateFile: () => olmWasmPath,
+    }).then(() => {
+        console.log("Using WebAssembly Olm");
+    }).catch((e) => {
+        console.log("Failed to load Olm: trying legacy version", e);
+        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+            const s = document.createElement('script');
+            s.src = 'olm_legacy.js'; // XXX: This should be cache-busted too
+            s.onload = resolve;
+            s.onerror = reject;
+            document.body.appendChild(s);
+        }).then(() => {
+            // Init window.Olm, ie. the one just loaded by the script tag,
+            // not 'Olm' which is still the failed wasm version.
+            return window.Olm.init();
+        }).then(() => {
+            console.log("Using legacy Olm");
+        }).catch((e) => {
+            console.log("Both WebAssembly and asm.js Olm failed!", e);
+        });
+    });
+}