diff --git a/src/render/SDL_render.c b/src/render/SDL_render.c
index 2131da194..4f92ea898 100644
--- a/src/render/SDL_render.c
+++ b/src/render/SDL_render.c
@@ -46,12 +46,19 @@ this should probably be removed at some point in the future.  --ryan. */
 #define SDL_PROP_WINDOW_RENDERER_POINTER "SDL.internal.window.renderer"
 #define SDL_PROP_TEXTURE_PARENT_POINTER "SDL.internal.texture.parent"
 
-#define CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC(renderer, retval)                  \
+#define CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC_BUT_NOT_DESTROYED_FLAG(renderer, retval)                  \
     if (!(renderer) || (renderer)->magic != &SDL_renderer_magic) { \
         SDL_InvalidParamError("renderer");                      \
         return retval;                                          \
     }
 
+#define CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC(renderer, retval)                  \
+    CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC_BUT_NOT_DESTROYED_FLAG(renderer, retval); \
+    if ((renderer)->destroyed) { \
+        SDL_SetError("Renderer's window has been destroyed, can't use further"); \
+        return retval;                                          \
+    }
+
 #define CHECK_TEXTURE_MAGIC(texture, retval)                    \
     if (!(texture) || (texture)->magic != &SDL_texture_magic) { \
         SDL_InvalidParamError("texture");                       \
@@ -4517,9 +4524,12 @@ static void SDL_DiscardAllCommands(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
     }
 }
 
-void SDL_DestroyRenderer(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
+void SDL_DestroyRendererWithoutFreeing(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
 {
-    CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC(renderer,);
+    SDL_assert(renderer != NULL);
+    SDL_assert(!renderer->destroyed);
+
+    renderer->destroyed = SDL_TRUE;
 
     SDL_DestroyProperties(renderer->props);
 
@@ -4540,15 +4550,25 @@ void SDL_DestroyRenderer(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
         SDL_ClearProperty(SDL_GetWindowProperties(renderer->window), SDL_PROP_WINDOW_RENDERER_POINTER);
     }
 
-    /* It's no longer magical... */
-    renderer->magic = NULL;
-
     /* Free the target mutex */
     SDL_DestroyMutex(renderer->target_mutex);
     renderer->target_mutex = NULL;
 
     /* Clean up renderer-specific resources */
     renderer->DestroyRenderer(renderer);
+}
+
+void SDL_DestroyRenderer(SDL_Renderer *renderer)
+{
+    CHECK_RENDERER_MAGIC_BUT_NOT_DESTROYED_FLAG(renderer,);
+
+    // if we've already destroyed the renderer through SDL_DestroyWindow, we just need
+    // to free the renderer pointer. This lets apps destroy the window and renderer
+    // in either order.
+    if (!renderer->destroyed) {
+        SDL_DestroyRendererWithoutFreeing(renderer);
+        renderer->magic = NULL;     // It's no longer magical...
+    }
 
     SDL_free(renderer);
 }
diff --git a/src/render/SDL_sysrender.h b/src/render/SDL_sysrender.h
index 3ab7a269a..b26c5752b 100644
--- a/src/render/SDL_sysrender.h
+++ b/src/render/SDL_sysrender.h
@@ -289,6 +289,8 @@ struct SDL_Renderer
 
     SDL_PropertiesID props;
 
+    SDL_bool destroyed;   // already destroyed by SDL_DestroyWindow; just free this struct in SDL_DestroyRenderer.
+
     void *driverdata;
 };
 
@@ -335,6 +337,9 @@ extern SDL_BlendOperation SDL_GetBlendModeAlphaOperation(SDL_BlendMode blendMode
    the next call, because it might be in an array that gets realloc()'d. */
 extern void *SDL_AllocateRenderVertices(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const size_t numbytes, const size_t alignment, size_t *offset);
 
+// Let the video subsystem destroy a renderer without making its pointer invalid.
+extern void SDL_DestroyRendererWithoutFreeing(SDL_Renderer *renderer);
+
 /* Ends C function definitions when using C++ */
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/src/video/SDL_video.c b/src/video/SDL_video.c
index 962057f86..4d05869bf 100644
--- a/src/video/SDL_video.c
+++ b/src/video/SDL_video.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include "../SDL_properties_c.h"
 #include "../timer/SDL_timer_c.h"
 #include "../camera/SDL_camera_c.h"
+#include "../render/SDL_sysrender.h"
 
 #ifdef SDL_VIDEO_OPENGL
 #include <SDL3/SDL_opengl.h>
@@ -3649,7 +3650,7 @@ void SDL_DestroyWindow(SDL_Window *window)
 
     SDL_Renderer *renderer = SDL_GetRenderer(window);
     if (renderer) {
-        SDL_DestroyRenderer(renderer);
+        SDL_DestroyRendererWithoutFreeing(renderer);
     }
 
     SDL_DestroyProperties(window->props);