diff --git a/xkb/xkbInit.c b/xkb/xkbInit.c
index 4108e1b26bdac0d5dbc66f9d3a3a8da2cd29e99c..8891cef5d43c41e9267921e30ec2af14c7fe969e 100644
--- a/xkb/xkbInit.c
+++ b/xkb/xkbInit.c
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ XkbSetRulesUsed(XkbRMLVOSet * rmlvo)
     XkbVariantUsed = (rmlvo->variant ? Xstrdup(rmlvo->variant) : NULL);
     free(XkbOptionsUsed);
     XkbOptionsUsed = (rmlvo->options ? Xstrdup(rmlvo->options) : NULL);
-    if (XkbWantRulesProp)
+    if (XkbWantRulesProp && screenInfo.screens[0]->root)
         XkbWriteRulesProp();
     return;
 }