diff --git a/runtimes/react-native/error-handling.mdx b/runtimes/react-native/error-handling.mdx
index 9a0c7916..8fa837ab 100644
--- a/runtimes/react-native/error-handling.mdx
+++ b/runtimes/react-native/error-handling.mdx
@@ -88,3 +88,24 @@ import { RiveView, RiveErrorType } from "@rive-app/react-native";
   If no `onError` handler is provided, errors will be logged to the console by
   default.
 </Note>
+
+### Android Runtime Initialization
+
+On Android, the Rive native library is automatically initialized at app startup. In rare cases (ABI mismatch, missing native libraries, etc.), this initialization can fail. Use `RiveRuntime.getStatus()` to check whether initialization succeeded:
+
+```ts
+import { RiveRuntime } from '@rive-app/react-native';
+
+const { isInitialized, error } = RiveRuntime.getStatus();
+if (!isInitialized) {
+  console.error('Rive failed to initialize:', error);
+}
+```
+
+<Note>
+On iOS, the runtime requires no explicit initialization — `getStatus()` will always return `{ isInitialized: true }`.
+</Note>
+
+<Warning>
+**Advanced:** If you need full control over when initialization happens, you can disable automatic initialization by adding `Rive_RiveRuntimeAndroidSkipSetup=true` to `android/gradle.properties` and calling `RiveRuntime.initialize()` yourself. This is not recommended for most apps — only use this if you have a specific reason to defer initialization.
+</Warning>