diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/project.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/project.cpp
index e8b68a4560e..6b092b676a1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/project.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/project.cpp
@@ -461,6 +461,14 @@ void Project::setRootProjectNode(ProjectNode *root)
     if (d->m_rootProjectNode == root)
         return;
 
+    if (root && root->nodes().isEmpty()) {
+        // Something went wrong with parsing: At least the project file needs to be
+        // shown so that the user can fix the breakage.
+        // Do not leak root and use default project tree in this case.
+        delete root;
+        root = nullptr;
+    }
+
     ProjectTree::applyTreeManager(root);
 
     ProjectNode *oldNode = d->m_rootProjectNode;