diff --git a/packages/compass/src/main/application.ts b/packages/compass/src/main/application.ts
index df8f284ff23..c07f899570f 100644
--- a/packages/compass/src/main/application.ts
+++ b/packages/compass/src/main/application.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,20 @@ class CompassApplication {
     // Accessing isEncryptionAvailable is not allowed when app is not ready on Windows
     // https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/33640
     await app.whenReady();
+
+    const { networkTraffic } = this.preferences.getPreferences();
+
+    if (!networkTraffic) {
+      // Electron fetches spellcheck dictionaries from a CDN
+      // on all OSs expect mac (it provides a built-in spell check).
+      // Passing a non-resolving URL prevents it from fetching
+      // as there aren't any options to disable it provided.
+      // https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/22995
+      session.defaultSession.setSpellCheckerDictionaryDownloadURL(
+        'http://127.0.0.1:0/'
+      );
+    }
+
     log.info(
       mongoLogId(1_001_000_307),
       'Application',
diff --git a/packages/compass/src/main/window-manager.ts b/packages/compass/src/main/window-manager.ts
index 6db516f5037..482c777268d 100644
--- a/packages/compass/src/main/window-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/compass/src/main/window-manager.ts
@@ -140,8 +140,6 @@ function showConnectWindow(
   };
 
   debug('creating new main window:', windowOpts);
-  const { preferences } = compassApp;
-  const { networkTraffic } = preferences.getPreferences();
 
   let window: BrowserWindow | null = new BrowserWindow(windowOpts);
   if (mongodbUrl) {
@@ -150,12 +148,6 @@ function showConnectWindow(
   if (connectionId) {
     registerConnectionIdForBrowserWindow(window, connectionId);
   }
-  if (networkTraffic !== true) {
-    // https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/22995
-    window.webContents.session.setSpellCheckerDictionaryDownloadURL(
-      'http://127.0.0.1:0/'
-    );
-  }
 
   enable(window.webContents);
   const unsubscribeProxyListenerPromise = compassApp.setupProxySupport(