diff --git a/src/search/dolphinsearchbox.cpp b/src/search/dolphinsearchbox.cpp
--- a/src/search/dolphinsearchbox.cpp
+++ b/src/search/dolphinsearchbox.cpp
@@ -230,8 +230,13 @@
 {
     switch (event->type()) {
     case QEvent::FocusIn:
-        setActive(true);
-        setFocus();
+        // #379135: we get the FocusIn event when we close a tab but we don't want to emit
+        // the activated() signal before the removeTab() call in DolphinTabWidget::closeTab() returns.
+        // To avoid this issue, we delay the activation of the search box.
+        QTimer::singleShot(0, this, [=] {
+            setActive(true);
+            setFocus();
+        });
         break;
 
     default: