diff --git a/modules/highgui/src/window_gtk.cpp b/modules/highgui/src/window_gtk.cpp
index e97ea2fb9c..07b4c964b6 100644
--- a/modules/highgui/src/window_gtk.cpp
+++ b/modules/highgui/src/window_gtk.cpp
@@ -951,7 +951,8 @@ static gboolean cvImageWidget_draw(GtkWidget* widget, cairo_t *cr, gpointer data
   }
 
   cairo_paint(cr);
-  g_object_unref(pixbuf);
+  if(pixbuf)
+      g_object_unref(pixbuf);
   return TRUE;
 }
 
@@ -1005,7 +1006,8 @@ static gboolean cvImageWidget_expose(GtkWidget* widget, GdkEventExpose* event, g
   }
 
   cairo_paint(cr);
-  g_object_unref(pixbuf);
+  if(pixbuf)
+      g_object_unref(pixbuf);
   cairo_destroy(cr);
   return TRUE;
 }