diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/stateseditornew/stateseditorview.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/stateseditornew/stateseditorview.cpp
index de7fc2be5f7..e005d6243db 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/stateseditornew/stateseditorview.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/stateseditornew/stateseditorview.cpp
@@ -111,7 +111,9 @@ void StatesEditorView::setActiveStatesGroupNode(const ModelNode &modelNode)
 
 int StatesEditorView::activeStatesGroupIndex() const
 {
-    return 1;
+    if (!model())
+        return -1;
+
     return Utils::indexOf(allModelNodesOfType(model()->qtQuickStateGroupMetaInfo()),
                           [this](const ModelNode &node) { return node == m_activeStatesGroupNode; })
            + 1;
@@ -119,6 +121,9 @@ int StatesEditorView::activeStatesGroupIndex() const
 
 void StatesEditorView::setActiveStatesGroupIndex(int index)
 {
+    if (!model())
+        return;
+
     if (index > 0) {
         const ModelNode statesGroup = allModelNodesOfType(model()->qtQuickStateGroupMetaInfo())
                                           .at(index - 1);