diff --git a/ommprotocol/md.py b/ommprotocol/md.py
index 519b2f4..b1769d2 100644
--- a/ommprotocol/md.py
+++ b/ommprotocol/md.py
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@
 from .utils import (random_string, assert_not_exists, timed_input,
                     available_platforms, warned_getattr)
 
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+OPENMM_VERSION = tuple(map(int, mm.__version__.split('.')))
+
 
 ###########################
 # Defaults
@@ -219,7 +222,7 @@ def __init__(self, handler, positions=None, velocities=None, box=None,
         self.barostat_interval = int(barostat_interval)
         # Hardware
         self._platform = platform
-        self.platform_properties = platform_properties
+        self.platform_properties = {} if platform_properties is None else platform_properties
         # Output parameters
         self.project_name = project_name if project_name is not None else self._PROJECTNAME
         self.name = name if name is not None else random_string(length=5)
@@ -421,8 +424,9 @@ def platform(self):
         if self._platform is None:
             return None,
         platform = mm.Platform.getPlatformByName(self._platform)
-        if self.platform_properties is None:
-            return platform,
+        if self._platform.upper() == 'CUDA' and OPENMM_VERSION < (7, 2, 3) \
+        and 'DisablePmeStream' not in self.platform_properties:
+            self.platform_properties['DisablePmeStream'] = 'true'
 
         # Patch to allow env-defined GPUs
         device = self.platform_properties.get('DeviceIndex', '')