diff --git a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController.kt b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController.kt
index 81899135b6..3649c4ebc5 100644
--- a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController.kt
+++ b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController.kt
@@ -40,12 +40,17 @@ import kotlin.collections.filterNotNull
  */
 class DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController(
     private val recentsModel: RecentsModel,
-    private val desktopVisibilityController: DesktopVisibilityController?,
+    // Pass a provider here instead of the actual DesktopVisibilityController instance since that
+    // instance might not be available when this constructor is called.
+    private val desktopVisibilityControllerProvider: () -> DesktopVisibilityController?,
 ) : TaskbarRecentAppsController() {
 
     private var apps: Array<AppInfo>? = null
     private var allRunningDesktopAppInfos: List<AppInfo>? = null
 
+    private val desktopVisibilityController: DesktopVisibilityController?
+        get() = desktopVisibilityControllerProvider()
+
     private val isInDesktopMode: Boolean
         get() = desktopVisibilityController?.areDesktopTasksVisible() ?: false
 
diff --git a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarActivityContext.java b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarActivityContext.java
index ff76e21faf..1d772b5479 100644
--- a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarActivityContext.java
+++ b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarActivityContext.java
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ public class TaskbarActivityContext extends BaseTaskbarContext {
         if (enableDesktopWindowingMode() && enableDesktopWindowingTaskbarRunningApps()) {
             return new DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController(
                     RecentsModel.INSTANCE.get(this),
-                    LauncherActivityInterface.INSTANCE.getDesktopVisibilityController());
+                    LauncherActivityInterface.INSTANCE::getDesktopVisibilityController);
         }
         return TaskbarRecentAppsController.DEFAULT;
     }
diff --git a/quickstep/tests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsControllerTest.kt b/quickstep/tests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsControllerTest.kt
index daed861b09..4fafde8e80 100644
--- a/quickstep/tests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsControllerTest.kt
+++ b/quickstep/tests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsControllerTest.kt
@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@ class DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsControllerTest : TaskbarBaseTestCase() {
         super.setup()
         userHandle = Process.myUserHandle()
         taskbarRunningAppsController =
-            DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController(mockRecentsModel, mockDesktopVisibilityController)
+            DesktopTaskbarRunningAppsController(mockRecentsModel) {
+                mockDesktopVisibilityController
+            }
         taskbarRunningAppsController.init(taskbarControllers)
         taskbarRunningAppsController.setApps(
             ALL_APP_PACKAGES.map { createTestAppInfo(packageName = it) }.toTypedArray()