diff --git a/src/gui/kernel/qsurfaceformat.cpp b/src/gui/kernel/qsurfaceformat.cpp
index 109ba8e610..d19690891f 100644
--- a/src/gui/kernel/qsurfaceformat.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/kernel/qsurfaceformat.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include <QtCore/qatomic.h>
 #include <QtCore/QDebug>
 #include <QOpenGLContext>
+#include <QtGui/qguiapplication.h>
 
 #ifdef major
 #undef major
@@ -760,10 +761,13 @@ Q_GLOBAL_STATIC(QSurfaceFormat, qt_default_surface_format)
 void QSurfaceFormat::setDefaultFormat(const QSurfaceFormat &format)
 {
 #ifndef QT_NO_OPENGL
-    QOpenGLContext *globalContext = QOpenGLContext::globalShareContext();
-    if (globalContext && globalContext->isValid()) {
-        qWarning("Warning: Setting a new default format with a different version or profile after "
-                 "the global shared context is created may cause issues with context sharing.");
+    if (qApp) {
+        QOpenGLContext *globalContext = QOpenGLContext::globalShareContext();
+        if (globalContext && globalContext->isValid()) {
+            qWarning("Warning: Setting a new default format with a different version or profile "
+                     "after the global shared context is created may cause issues with context "
+                     "sharing.");
+        }
     }
 #endif
     *qt_default_surface_format() = format;