diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
index f52ac9bd3..21bc51c24 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layApplication.cc
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ GuiApplication::start_recording ()
 lay::Dispatcher *
 GuiApplication::dispatcher () const
 {
-  return mp_mw->dispatcher ();
+  return mp_mw ? mp_mw->dispatcher () : 0;
 }
 
 void