diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/qmldesignerprojectmanager.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/qmldesignerprojectmanager.cpp
index 90e54ba65bb..366f1ef04e3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/qmldesignerprojectmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/qmldesignerprojectmanager.cpp
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ public:
                                   ImageCacheCollectorNullImageHandling::DontCaptureNullImage};
     PreviewTimeStampProvider timeStampProvider;
     AsynchronousImageFactory factory;
-    ::ProjectExplorer::Target *activeTarget = nullptr;
+    QPointer<::ProjectExplorer::Target> activeTarget;
 };
 
 QmlDesignerProjectManager::QmlDesignerProjectManager()