diff --git a/src/shell-global.c b/src/shell-global.c
index 852d14f9a..7a9f6c768 100644
--- a/src/shell-global.c
+++ b/src/shell-global.c
@@ -749,8 +749,8 @@ update_scale_factor (GdkScreen *screen, gpointer data)
   GValue value = G_VALUE_INIT;
 
   g_value_init (&value, G_TYPE_INT);
-  gdk_screen_get_setting (global->gdk_screen, "gdk-window-scaling-factor", &value);
-  g_object_set (context, "scale-factor", g_value_get_int (&value), NULL);
+  if (gdk_screen_get_setting (global->gdk_screen, "gdk-window-scaling-factor", &value))
+    g_object_set (context, "scale-factor", g_value_get_int (&value), NULL);
 }
 
 /* This is an IBus workaround. The flow of events with IBus is that every time