diff --git a/shell/futureutil.h b/shell/futureutil.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/futureutil.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ *   Copyright 2016 Ivan Cukic <ivan.cukic@kde.org>
+ *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as
+ *   published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
+ *   License along with this program; if not, write to the
+ *   Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ *   51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef FUTUREUTIL_H
+#define FUTUREUTIL_H
+
+#include <QCoreApplication>
+
+template <typename T>
+inline void awaitFuture(const QFuture<T> &future)
+{
+    while (!future.isFinished()) {
+        QCoreApplication::processEvents();
+    }
+}
+
+#endif /* !FUTUREUTIL_H */
diff --git a/shell/shellcorona.h b/shell/shellcorona.h
--- a/shell/shellcorona.h
+++ b/shell/shellcorona.h
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 
     PanelView *panelView(Plasma::Containment *containment) const;
 
-    //Those two are a bit of an hack but are just for desktop scripting
+    // This one is a bit of an hack but are just for desktop scripting
     void insertActivity(const QString &id, const QString &plugin);
 
     Plasma::Containment *setContainmentTypeForScreen(int screen, const QString &plugin);
diff --git a/shell/shellcorona.cpp b/shell/shellcorona.cpp
--- a/shell/shellcorona.cpp
+++ b/shell/shellcorona.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
 
 #include "plasmashelladaptor.h"
 
+#include "futureutil.h"
+
 #ifndef NDEBUG
     #define CHECK_SCREEN_INVARIANTS screenInvariants();
 #else
@@ -902,13 +904,16 @@
 
 Plasma::Containment *ShellCorona::createContainmentForActivity(const QString& activity, int screenNum)
 {
-    QHash<int, Plasma::Containment *> act = m_desktopContainments.value(activity);
-    QHash<int, Plasma::Containment *>::const_iterator it = act.constFind(screenNum);
-    if (it != act.constEnd()) {
-        return *it;
+    if (m_desktopContainments.contains(activity)) {
+        QHash<int, Plasma::Containment *> act = m_desktopContainments.value(activity);
+        QHash<int, Plasma::Containment *>::const_iterator it = act.constFind(screenNum);
+        if (it != act.constEnd() && (*it)) {
+            return *it;
+        }
     }
 
     QString plugin = m_activityContainmentPlugins.value(activity);
+
     if (plugin.isEmpty()) {
         plugin = m_desktopDefaultsConfig.readEntry("Containment", "org.kde.desktopcontainment");
     }
@@ -1226,6 +1231,24 @@
 {
     activityAdded(id);
 
+    const QString currentActivityReally = m_activityController->currentActivity();
+
+    // TODO: This needs to go away!
+    // The containment creation API does not know when we have a
+    // new activity to create a containment for, we need to pretend
+    // that the current activity has been changed
+    QFuture<bool> currentActivity = m_activityController->setCurrentActivity(id);
+    awaitFuture(currentActivity);
+
+    if (!currentActivity.result()) {
+        qDebug() << "Failed to create and switch to the activity";
+        return;
+    }
+
+    while (m_activityController->currentActivity() != id) {
+        QCoreApplication::processEvents();
+    }
+
     m_activityContainmentPlugins.insert(id, plugin);
     for (int i = 0; i < m_views.count(); ++i) {
         Plasma::Containment *c = createContainmentForActivity(id, i);