--- a/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
+++ b/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
@@ -4088,30 +4088,42 @@
             },
 
             // This function is called after all the main state changes to
             // make sure we display the right tab.
             updateDisplay() {
               let requestedTabState = this.getTabState(this.requestedTab);
               let requestedBrowser = this.requestedTab.linkedBrowser;
 
-              // It is more desirable to show a blank tab when appropriate than
+              // It is often more desirable to show a blank tab when appropriate than
               // the tab switch spinner - especially since the spinner is usually
               // preceded by a perceived lag of TAB_SWITCH_TIMEOUT ms in the
               // tab switch. We can hide this lag, and hide the time being spent
               // constructing TabChild's, layer trees, etc, by showing a blank
               // tab instead and focusing it immediately.
               let shouldBeBlank = false;
               if (requestedBrowser.isRemoteBrowser) {
-                // If a tab is remote, we can show a blank tab instead of a
-                // spinner if we know it has never presented before, or if it
-                // has just crashed and we haven't started showing the tab crashed
-                // page yet.
+                // If a tab is remote and the window is not minimized, we can show a
+                // blank tab instead of a spinner in the following cases:
+                //
+                // 1. The tab has just crashed, and we haven't started showing the
+                //    tab crashed page yet (in this case, the TabParent is null)
+                // 2. The tab has never presented, and has not finished loading
+                //    a non-blank page.
+                //
+                // For (2), "finished loading a non-blank page" is determined by
+                // looking at the loaded URI and the busy state on the tab element.
+                let hasSufficientlyLoaded =
+                  !this.requestedTab.hasAttribute("busy") &&
+                  requestedBrowser.currentURI.spec != "about:blank";
+
                 let fl = requestedBrowser.frameLoader;
-                shouldBeBlank = !this.minimized && (!fl.tabParent || !fl.tabParent.hasPresented);
+                shouldBeBlank = !this.minimized &&
+                                (!fl.tabParent ||
+                                 (!hasSufficientlyLoaded && !fl.tabParent.hasPresented));
               }
 
               this.log("Tab should be blank: " + shouldBeBlank);
               this.log("Requested tab is remote?: " + requestedBrowser.isRemoteBrowser);
 
               // Figure out which tab we actually want visible right now.
               let showTab = null;
               if (requestedTabState != this.STATE_LOADED &&
@@ -4606,17 +4618,16 @@
                 this.switchInProgress = false;
               }
             },
 
             spinnerDisplayed() {
               this.assert(!this.spinnerTab);
               let browser = this.requestedTab.linkedBrowser;
               this.assert(browser.isRemoteBrowser);
-              this.assert(browser.frameLoader.tabParent.hasPresented);
               TelemetryStopwatch.start("FX_TAB_SWITCH_SPINNER_VISIBLE_MS", window);
               // We have a second, similar probe for capturing recordings of
               // when the spinner is displayed for very long periods.
               TelemetryStopwatch.start("FX_TAB_SWITCH_SPINNER_VISIBLE_LONG_MS", window);
               this.addMarker("AsyncTabSwitch:SpinnerShown");
             },
 
             spinnerHidden() {