diff --git a/src/gui/text/unix/qfontconfigdatabase.cpp b/src/gui/text/unix/qfontconfigdatabase.cpp
index 8d9844929d..c91d6f4bb0 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/unix/qfontconfigdatabase.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/text/unix/qfontconfigdatabase.cpp
@@ -593,6 +593,8 @@ void QFontconfigDatabase::populateFontDatabase()
         fonts = FcFontList(nullptr, pattern, os);
         FcObjectSetDestroy(os);
         FcPatternDestroy(pattern);
+        if (!fonts)
+            return;
     }
 
     for (int i = 0; i < fonts->nfont; i++)