diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerengine.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerengine.cpp
index 69573db219a..a1c2aad6aba 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerengine.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerengine.cpp
@@ -2138,6 +2138,10 @@ void DebuggerEngine::createSnapshot()
 
 void DebuggerEngine::updateLocals()
 {
+    // if the engine is not running - do nothing
+    if (state() == DebuggerState::DebuggerFinished || state() == DebuggerState::DebuggerNotReady)
+        return;
+
     watchHandler()->resetValueCache();
     doUpdateLocals(UpdateParameters());
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
index 8d87cfde054..b57b2b85c69 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
@@ -3302,6 +3302,10 @@ void GdbEngine::handlePeripheralRegisterListValues(
 
 void GdbEngine::reloadLocals()
 {
+    // if the engine is not running - do nothing
+    if (state() == DebuggerState::DebuggerFinished || state() == DebuggerState::DebuggerNotReady)
+        return;
+
     setTokenBarrier();
     updateLocals();
 }