diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
index e1690b121..f6dc15a82 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layMainWindow.cc
@@ -2046,6 +2046,10 @@ MainWindow::cm_load_layer_props ()
 void
 MainWindow::load_layer_props_from_file (const std::string &fn)
 {
+  if (! current_view ()) {
+    throw tl::Exception (tl::to_string (QObject::tr ("No view open to load the layer properties for")));
+  }
+
   int target_cv_index = -2;
 
   if (current_view ()->cellviews () > 1 && is_single_cv_layer_properties_file (fn)) {