diff --git a/src/ui/tools/pages-tool.cpp b/src/ui/tools/pages-tool.cpp
index 8fa18e64d8dc1eaa1d7ee9fba3a64f6510e4d704..d757e0fd6f387ed8113b5d7ced5bf352ee044c12 100644
--- a/src/ui/tools/pages-tool.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/tools/pages-tool.cpp
@@ -262,6 +262,10 @@ bool PagesTool::root_handler(CanvasEvent const &event)
 {
     bool ret = false;
     auto &page_manager = _desktop->getDocument()->getPageManager();
+    
+    if (!page_manager.hasPages()) {
+        page_manager.enablePages();
+    }
 
     inspect_event(event,
         [&] (ButtonPressEvent const &event) {