diff --git a/src/plugins/remotelinux/remotelinuxdebugsupport.cpp b/src/plugins/remotelinux/remotelinuxdebugsupport.cpp
index 5143efe7d95..a9a3eca3a1e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/remotelinux/remotelinuxdebugsupport.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/remotelinux/remotelinuxdebugsupport.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ LinuxDeviceDebugSupport::LinuxDeviceDebugSupport(RunControl *runControl)
     addQmlServerInferiorCommandLineArgumentIfNeeded();
 
     auto gdbServer = new GdbServerRunner(runControl, portsGatherer());
+    gdbServer->setEssential(true);
 
     addStartDependency(gdbServer);