diff --git a/src/backends/meta-cursor-renderer.c b/src/backends/meta-cursor-renderer.c
index 83af9746a..e2bb5afb9 100644
--- a/src/backends/meta-cursor-renderer.c
+++ b/src/backends/meta-cursor-renderer.c
@@ -236,6 +236,10 @@ queue_redraw (MetaCursorRenderer *renderer)
 
   g_assert (meta_is_wayland_compositor ());
 
+  /* During early initialization, we can have no stage */
+  if (!stage)
+    return;
+
   /* Clear the location the cursor was at before, if we need to. */
   if (priv->previous_is_valid)
     {