diff --git a/src/frontends/qt/GuiApplication.cpp b/src/frontends/qt/GuiApplication.cpp
index 31cdcb7c29..57eaaf6558 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt/GuiApplication.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt/GuiApplication.cpp
@@ -1901,6 +1901,12 @@ void GuiApplication::dispatch(FuncRequest const & cmd, DispatchResult & dr)
 	}
 
 	case LFUN_LYXFILES_OPEN: {
+		// This is the actual reason for this method (#12106).
+		validateCurrentView();
+		if (!current_view_
+		   || (!lyxrc.open_buffers_in_tabs
+		       && current_view_->documentBufferView() != nullptr))
+			createView();
 		string arg = to_utf8(cmd.argument());
 		if (arg.empty())
 			// set default