diff --git a/client.go b/client.go
index 7046417d..2d3bb49f 100644
--- a/client.go
+++ b/client.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
+	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -77,6 +78,17 @@ func NewClient(apiKey string, options ...Option) (*Client, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	c.log.Debug("initialising Flagsmith client",
+		slog.String("api_url", c.baseURL),
+		slog.Bool("local_eval", c.localEvaluation),
+		slog.Duration("environment_refresh_interval", c.envRefreshInterval),
+		slog.Bool("realtime", c.useRealtime),
+		slog.String("realtime_url", c.realtimeBaseUrl),
+		slog.Bool("offline", c.state.IsOffline()),
+		slog.Duration("timeout", c.timeout),
+		slog.String("proxy", c.proxy),
+	)
+
 	if c.state.IsOffline() {
 		return c, nil
 	}
@@ -99,15 +111,32 @@ func NewClient(apiKey string, options ...Option) (*Client, error) {
 
 	if c.localEvaluation {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(apiKey, "ser.") {
-			return nil, errors.New("using local flag evaluation requires a server-side SDK key; got " + apiKey)
+			return nil, errors.New("local flag evaluation requires a server-side SDK key; got " + apiKey)
+		}
+		if c.envRefreshInterval == 0 && !c.useRealtime {
+			return nil, errors.New("local flag evaluation requires a non-zero refresh interval or enabling real-time updates")
 		}
+
+		// Fail fast if we can't fetch the initial environment within the timeout
+		ctxWithTimeout, cancel := context.WithTimeout(c.ctxLocalEval, c.timeout)
+		defer cancel()
+		c.log.Debug("fetching initial environment")
+		env, err := c.updateAndReturnEnvironment(ctxWithTimeout)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch initial environment: %w", err)
+		}
+
 		if c.useRealtime {
-			go c.startRealtimeUpdates(c.ctxLocalEval)
-		} else {
+			streamPath, err := url.JoinPath(c.realtimeBaseUrl, "sse/environments", env.APIKey, "stream")
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to build stream URL: %w", err)
+			}
+			go c.startRealtimeUpdates(c.ctxLocalEval, streamPath)
+		}
+		if c.envRefreshInterval > 0 {
 			go c.pollEnvironment(c.ctxLocalEval)
 		}
 	}
-
 	return c, nil
 }
 
@@ -158,6 +187,11 @@ func (c *Client) GetFlags(ctx context.Context, ec EvaluationContext) (f Flags, e
 // UpdateEnvironment fetches the current environment state from the Flagsmith API. It is called periodically when using
 // [WithLocalEvaluation], or when [WithRealtime] is enabled and an update event was received.
 func (c *Client) UpdateEnvironment(ctx context.Context) error {
+	_, err := c.updateAndReturnEnvironment(ctx)
+	return err
+}
+
+func (c *Client) updateAndReturnEnvironment(ctx context.Context) (*environments.EnvironmentModel, error) {
 	var env environments.EnvironmentModel
 	resp, err := c.client.
 		NewRequest().
@@ -167,16 +201,16 @@ func (c *Client) UpdateEnvironment(ctx context.Context) error {
 		Get(c.baseURL + "environment-document/")
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return c.handleError(&APIError{Err: err})
+		return nil, c.handleError(&APIError{Err: err})
 	}
 	if resp.IsError() {
 		e := &APIError{response: resp.RawResponse}
-		return c.handleError(e)
+		return nil, c.handleError(e)
 	}
 	c.state.SetEnvironment(&env)
 
 	c.log.Info("environment updated", "environment", env.APIKey)
-	return nil
+	return &env, nil
 }
 
 // GetIdentitySegments returns the segments that this evaluation context is a part of. It requires a local environment
@@ -309,21 +343,20 @@ func (c *Client) getIdentityFlagsFromEnvironment(identifier string, traits map[s
 }
 
 func (c *Client) pollEnvironment(ctx context.Context) {
-	update := func() {
-		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, c.envRefreshInterval)
-		defer cancel()
-		err := c.UpdateEnvironment(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			c.log.Error("pollEnvironment failed", "error", err)
-		}
-	}
-	update()
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(c.envRefreshInterval)
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ticker.C:
+			env, ok := c.state.GetEnvironment()
+			if ok && time.Since(env.UpdatedAt) < c.envRefreshInterval {
+				c.log.Debug("environment is already fresh, skipping poll")
+				continue
+			}
 			c.log.Debug("polling environment")
-			update()
+			err := c.UpdateEnvironment(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				c.log.Error("pollEnvironment failed", "error", err)
+			}
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/client_test.go b/client_test.go
index db353779..e8502b5b 100644
--- a/client_test.go
+++ b/client_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -100,15 +101,10 @@ func TestClientUpdatesEnvironmentOnStartForLocalEvaluation(t *testing.T) {
 func TestClientUpdatesEnvironmentOnEachRefresh(t *testing.T) {
 	// Given
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter := struct {
-		mu    sync.Mutex
-		count int
-	}{}
+	var actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter atomic.Uint64
 	expectedEnvironmentRefreshCount := 3
 	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-		actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.mu.Lock()
-		actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.count++
-		actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.mu.Unlock()
+		actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.Add(1)
 		assert.Equal(t, req.URL.Path, "/api/v1/environment-document/")
 		assert.Equal(t, fixtures.EnvironmentAPIKey, req.Header.Get("X-Environment-Key"))
 
@@ -133,8 +129,7 @@ func TestClientUpdatesEnvironmentOnEachRefresh(t *testing.T) {
 	// one when the client starts and 2
 	// for each time the refresh interval expires
 
-	actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.mu.Lock()
-	assert.Equal(t, expectedEnvironmentRefreshCount, actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.count)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedEnvironmentRefreshCount, int(actualEnvironmentRefreshCounter.Load()))
 }
 
 func TestGetFlags(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/realtime.go b/realtime.go
index e6c5d95a..a9082e07 100644
--- a/realtime.go
+++ b/realtime.go
@@ -7,33 +7,21 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"log/slog"
 	"net/http"
-	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
 
-func (c *Client) startRealtimeUpdates(ctx context.Context) {
-	err := c.UpdateEnvironment(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("Failed to fetch the environment while configuring real-time updates")
-	}
-
+func (c *Client) startRealtimeUpdates(ctx context.Context, stream string) {
 	env, _ := c.state.GetEnvironment()
 	envUpdatedAt := env.UpdatedAt
 	log := c.log.With("environment", env.APIKey, "current_updated_at", &envUpdatedAt)
 
-	streamPath, err := url.JoinPath(c.realtimeBaseUrl, "sse/environments", env.APIKey, "stream")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Error("failed to build stream URL", "error", err)
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
 		default:
-			resp, err := http.Get(streamPath)
+			resp, err := http.Get(stream)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Error("failed to connect to realtime service", "error", err)
 				continue