diff --git a/config.org b/config.org
index 728f751..e8ef02b 100644
--- a/config.org
+++ b/config.org
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ Exclude some dirs from spamming recentf
 #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
 (use-package imenu-list
   :ensure t
-  :defer t
+  :demand t  ; otherwise mode loads too late and won't work on first file it's being activated on
   :config
   (setq imenu-list-focus-after-activation t
         imenu-list-auto-resize t