Is there a way to turn off "checking for updates" when in maintenance mode?

My spinner won't stop. A quick look at the console reveals a javascript error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot call method 'hideLoader' of undefined

I can turn off javascript, but there has to be a better solution to this (i.e. I don't think it's going to fly telling my clients to turn off javascript in their browser...for one thing, they won't know how to turn it back on, and also, other parts of the site use javscript for the ux)