diff --git a/addons/externaltools/katetoolrunner.cpp b/addons/externaltools/katetoolrunner.cpp
index 155023c08..b8b62a23a 100644
--- a/addons/externaltools/katetoolrunner.cpp
+++ b/addons/externaltools/katetoolrunner.cpp
@@ -1,101 +1,104 @@
 /* This file is part of the KDE project
  *
  *  Copyright 2019 Dominik Haumann <dhaumann@kde.org>
  *
  *  This library 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 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
  *
  *  This library 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
  *  Library General Public License for more details.
  *
  *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
  *  along with this library; see the file COPYING.LIB.  If not, write to
  *  the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
  *  Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
  */
 
 #include "katetoolrunner.h"
 
 #include "kateexternaltool.h"
 
 #include <KShell>
 #include <KTextEditor/View>
 #include <KLocalizedString>
 
 KateToolRunner::KateToolRunner(std::unique_ptr<KateExternalTool> tool, KTextEditor::View * view, QObject* parent)
     : QObject(parent)
     , m_view(view)
     , m_tool(std::move(tool))
     , m_process(new QProcess())
 {
 }
 
 KateToolRunner::~KateToolRunner()
 {
 }
 
 KTextEditor::View* KateToolRunner::view() const
 {
     return m_view;
 }
 
 KateExternalTool* KateToolRunner::tool() const
 {
     return m_tool.get();
 }
 
 void KateToolRunner::run()
 {
     if (m_tool->includeStderr) {
         m_process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
     }
 
     if (!m_tool->workingDir.isEmpty()) {
         m_process->setWorkingDirectory(m_tool->workingDir);
-    } else {
+    } else if (m_view) {
         // if nothing is set, use the current document's directory
-        const QString path = m_view->document()->url().toString(QUrl::RemoveScheme | QUrl::RemoveFilename);
-        m_process->setWorkingDirectory(path);
+        const auto url = m_view->document()->url();
+        if (url.isValid()) {
+            const QString path = m_view->document()->url().toString(QUrl::RemoveScheme | QUrl::RemoveFilename);
+            m_process->setWorkingDirectory(path);
+        }
     }
 
     QObject::connect(m_process.get(), &QProcess::readyRead, this, &KateToolRunner::slotReadyRead);
     QObject::connect(m_process.get(), static_cast<void (QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished), this,
                      &KateToolRunner::handleToolFinished);
 
     // Write stdin to process, if applicable, then close write channel
     QObject::connect(m_process.get(), &QProcess::started, [this]() {
         if (!m_tool->input.isEmpty()) {
             m_process->write(m_tool->input.toLocal8Bit());
         }
         m_process->closeWriteChannel();
     });
 
     const QStringList args = KShell::splitArgs(m_tool->arguments);
     m_process->start(m_tool->executable, args);
 }
 
 void KateToolRunner::waitForFinished()
 {
     m_process->waitForFinished();
 }
 
 QString KateToolRunner::outputData() const
 {
     return QString::fromLocal8Bit(m_output);
 }
 
 void KateToolRunner::slotReadyRead()
 {
     m_output += m_process->readAll();
 }
 
 void KateToolRunner::handleToolFinished(int exitCode, QProcess::ExitStatus exitStatus)
 {
     Q_EMIT toolFinished(this, exitCode, exitStatus == QProcess::CrashExit);
 }
 
 // kate: space-indent on; indent-width 4; replace-tabs on;