diff --git a/src/imageformats/eps.cpp b/src/imageformats/eps.cpp
--- a/src/imageformats/eps.cpp
+++ b/src/imageformats/eps.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <QPrinter>
 #include <QProcess>
 #include <QTemporaryFile>
+#include <QCoreApplication>
 
 // logging category for this framework, default: log stuff >= warning
 Q_LOGGING_CATEGORY(EPSPLUGIN, "epsplugin", QtWarningMsg)
@@ -333,6 +334,15 @@
 
 QImageIOPlugin::Capabilities EPSPlugin::capabilities(QIODevice *device, const QByteArray &format) const
 {
+    // prevent bug #397040: when on app shutdown the clipboard content is to be copied to survive end of the app,
+    // QXcbIntegration looks for some QImageIOHandler to apply, querying the capabilities and picking any first.
+    // At that point this plugin no longer has its requirements e.g. to run the external process, so we have to deny.
+    // The capabilities seem to be queried on demand in Qt code and not cached, so it's fine to report based
+    // in current dynamic state
+    if (!QCoreApplication::instance()) {
+        return {};
+    }
+
     if (format == "eps" || format == "epsi" || format == "epsf") {
         return Capabilities(CanRead | CanWrite);
     }