diff --git a/src/st/st-icon.c b/src/st/st-icon.c
index a2ccd8f75..e82adcc77 100644
--- a/src/st/st-icon.c
+++ b/src/st/st-icon.c
@@ -418,6 +418,9 @@ st_icon_update (StIcon *icon)
       priv->opacity_handler_id = 0;
     }
 
+  if (priv->gicon == NULL && priv->fallback_gicon == NULL)
+    return;
+
   if (!st_widget_get_resource_scale (ST_WIDGET (icon), &resource_scale))
     return;