diff --git a/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase.cpp b/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase.cpp
index 0621f2a524..f063541249 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase.cpp
@@ -840,9 +840,13 @@ QStringList QPlatformFontDatabase::fallbacksForFamily(const QString &family, QFo
     return retList;
 }
 
+static void initializeDb();
+
 static QStringList fallbacksForFamily(const QString &family, QFont::Style style, QFont::StyleHint styleHint, QChar::Script script)
 {
     QFontDatabasePrivate *db = privateDb();
+    if (!db->count)
+        initializeDb();
 
     const FallbacksCacheKey cacheKey = { family, style, styleHint, script };