diff --git a/src/mame/drivers/quizpun2.cpp b/src/mame/drivers/quizpun2.cpp
index 5047f212e93..774234d19fa 100644
--- a/src/mame/drivers/quizpun2.cpp
+++ b/src/mame/drivers/quizpun2.cpp
@@ -273,7 +273,9 @@ void quizpun2_state::machine_reset()
 {
 	membank("bank1")->set_entry(0);
 
-	// quizpun
+	// quizpun2 service mode needs this to fix a race condition since the MCU takes a while to start up
+	m_maincpu->set_input_line(INPUT_LINE_HALT, ASSERT_LINE);
+
 	m_mcu_data_port = m_mcu_control_port = 0;
 	m_mcu_pending = m_mcu_written = m_mcu_repeat = false;
 }