diff --git a/src/common/rendering/hwrenderer/data/hw_shadowmap.h b/src/common/rendering/hwrenderer/data/hw_shadowmap.h
index f82e368b2a..e755c0f599 100644
--- a/src/common/rendering/hwrenderer/data/hw_shadowmap.h
+++ b/src/common/rendering/hwrenderer/data/hw_shadowmap.h
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ public:
 		mLights[index + 3] = r;
 	}
 
+	bool Enabled() const
+	{
+		return mAABBTree != nullptr;
+	}
+
 protected:
 	// Upload the AABB-tree to the GPU
 	void UploadAABBTree();
diff --git a/src/rendering/hwrenderer/hw_dynlightdata.cpp b/src/rendering/hwrenderer/hw_dynlightdata.cpp
index f65b031726..044d34d3d5 100644
--- a/src/rendering/hwrenderer/hw_dynlightdata.cpp
+++ b/src/rendering/hwrenderer/hw_dynlightdata.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "a_dynlight.h"
 #include "hw_dynlightdata.h"
 #include"hw_cvars.h"
+#include "v_video.h"
 #include "hwrenderer/scene/hw_drawstructs.h"
 
 // If we want to share the array to avoid constant allocations it needs to be thread local unless it'd be littered with expensive synchronization.
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ void AddLightToList(FDynLightData &dld, int group, FDynamicLight * light, bool f
 	}
 
 	float shadowIndex;
-	if (gl_light_shadowmap) // note: with gl_light_shadowmap switched off, we cannot rely on properly set indices anymore.
+	if (screen->mShadowMap.Enabled()) // note: with shadowmaps switched off, we cannot rely on properly set indices anymore.
 	{
 		shadowIndex = light->mShadowmapIndex + 1.0f;
 	}