diff --git a/shell/desktopview.cpp b/shell/desktopview.cpp
--- a/shell/desktopview.cpp
+++ b/shell/desktopview.cpp
@@ -57,15 +57,17 @@
     QObject::connect(corona, &Plasma::Corona::kPackageChanged,
                      this, &DesktopView::coronaPackageChanged);
 
-    connect(this, &DesktopView::sceneGraphInitialized, this,
-        [this, corona]() {
-            // check whether the GL Context supports OpenGL
-            // Note: hasOpenGLShaderPrograms is broken, see QTBUG--39730
-            if (!QOpenGLShaderProgram::hasOpenGLShaderPrograms(openglContext())) {
-                qWarning() << "GLSL not available, Plasma won't be functional";
-                QMetaObject::invokeMethod(corona, "showOpenGLNotCompatibleWarning", Qt::QueuedConnection);
-            }
-        }, Qt::DirectConnection);
+    if (QQuickWindow::sceneGraphBackend() != QLatin1String("software")) {
+        connect(this, &DesktopView::sceneGraphInitialized, this,
+            [this, corona]() {
+                // check whether the GL Context supports OpenGL
+                // Note: hasOpenGLShaderPrograms is broken, see QTBUG--39730
+                if (!QOpenGLShaderProgram::hasOpenGLShaderPrograms(openglContext())) {
+                    qWarning() << "GLSL not available, Plasma won't be functional";
+                    QMetaObject::invokeMethod(corona, "showOpenGLNotCompatibleWarning", Qt::QueuedConnection);
+                }
+            }, Qt::DirectConnection);
+    }
 }
 
 DesktopView::~DesktopView()