1 files changed, 5 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/src/port/Engine.cpp b/src/port/Engine.cpp
index b6ba9a226..5120c82a2 100644
--- a/src/port/Engine.cpp
+++ b/src/port/Engine.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "Engine.h"
 
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include "ship/utils/StringHelper.h"
 #include "GameExtractor.h"
 #include "mods/ModManager.h"
@@ -269,14 +270,16 @@ bool GameEngine::GenAssetFile() {
 
     if (!extractor->SelectGameFromUI()) {
         ShowMessage("Error", "No ROM selected.\n\nExiting...");
-        exit(1);
+        // _Exit, not exit: this runs before the game world is initialized, so running the
+        // global World destructor (CleanWorld) would dereference still-null singletons and crash.
+        _Exit(1);
     }
 
     auto game = extractor->ValidateChecksum();
     if (!game.has_value()) {
         ShowMessage("Unsupported ROM",
                     "The provided ROM is not supported.\n\nCheck the readme for a list of supported versions.");
-        exit(1);
+        _Exit(1);
     }
 
     ShowMessage(("Found " + game.value()).c_str(),