diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 15e471936..b5a9ffdcd 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Other fixes:
  - Qt: Fix modifier key names in shortcut editor (fixes mgba.io/i/2817)
  - Qt: Fix a handful of edge cases with graphics viewers (fixes mgba.io/i/2827)
  - Qt: Fix full-buffer rewind
+ - Qt: Fix crash if loading a shader fails
  - Scripting: Fix receiving packets for client sockets
  - Scripting: Fix empty receive calls returning unknown error on Windows
 Misc:
diff --git a/src/platform/qt/DisplayGL.cpp b/src/platform/qt/DisplayGL.cpp
index 469b7e315..95549b0c8 100644
--- a/src/platform/qt/DisplayGL.cpp
+++ b/src/platform/qt/DisplayGL.cpp
@@ -915,8 +915,9 @@ void PainterGL::setShaders(struct VDir* dir) {
 		mGLES2ShaderDetach(reinterpret_cast<mGLES2Context*>(m_backend));
 		mGLES2ShaderFree(&m_shader);
 	}
-	mGLES2ShaderLoad(&m_shader, dir);
-	mGLES2ShaderAttach(reinterpret_cast<mGLES2Context*>(m_backend), static_cast<mGLES2Shader*>(m_shader.passes), m_shader.nPasses);
+	if (mGLES2ShaderLoad(&m_shader, dir)) {
+		mGLES2ShaderAttach(reinterpret_cast<mGLES2Context*>(m_backend), static_cast<mGLES2Shader*>(m_shader.passes), m_shader.nPasses);
+	}
 
 	if (!m_started) {
 		m_gl->doneCurrent();