diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 637248327..fe7b04583 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ Bugfixes:
  - GBA Memory: Fix cycle counting for 32-bit load/stores
  - ARM7: Fix cycle counting for loads
  - Qt: Pause game while open file dialogs are open (fixes #6 on GitHub)
+ - Qt: Fix crash when attempting to pause if a game is not running
 Misc:
  - GBA Audio: Change internal audio sample buffer from 32-bit to 16-bit samples
  - GBA Memory: Simplify memory API and use fixed bus width
diff --git a/src/platform/qt/GameController.cpp b/src/platform/qt/GameController.cpp
index 20d8e30a1..4f63ecd8f 100644
--- a/src/platform/qt/GameController.cpp
+++ b/src/platform/qt/GameController.cpp
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ bool GameController::isPaused() {
 }
 
 void GameController::setPaused(bool paused) {
-	if (paused == GBAThreadIsPaused(&m_threadContext)) {
+	if (!m_gameOpen || paused == GBAThreadIsPaused(&m_threadContext)) {
 		return;
 	}
 	if (paused) {