diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6f34002f1..890172112 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [24.08.3]
+
+### Fixed
+
+* Issue #465799: Segmentation fault no longer occurs when .conf file is missing on first launch.
+
+## [24.08.0]
+
 ### Added
 
 * Added more icons to menu actions.
diff --git a/src/preview/htmlpreview.cpp b/src/preview/htmlpreview.cpp
index db89dd29d..5a6007695 100644
--- a/src/preview/htmlpreview.cpp
+++ b/src/preview/htmlpreview.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-/*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2014-2023 Megan Conkle <megan.conkle@kdemail.net>
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2014-2024 Megan Conkle <megan.conkle@kdemail.net>
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
  */
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class HtmlPreviewPrivate
     HtmlPreviewPrivate(HtmlPreview *q_ptr)
         : q_ptr(q_ptr)
     {
-        ;
+        proxy = new PreviewProxy(q_ptr);
     }
 
     ~HtmlPreviewPrivate()
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class HtmlPreviewPrivate
     MarkdownDocument *document;
     bool updateInProgress;
     bool updateAgain;
-    PreviewProxy proxy;
+    PreviewProxy *proxy;
     QString baseUrl;
     QRegularExpression headingTagExp;
     Exporter *exporter;
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ HtmlPreview::HtmlPreview
     d->updateInProgress = false;
     d->updateAgain = false;
     d->exporter = exporter;
-    d->proxy.setMathEnabled(d->exporter->supportsMath());
+    d->proxy->setMathEnabled(d->exporter->supportsMath());
 
     d->baseUrl = "";
 
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ HtmlPreview::HtmlPreview
     this->setZoomFactor((horizontalDpi / 96.0));
 
     QWebChannel *channel = new QWebChannel(this);
-    channel->registerObject(QStringLiteral("previewProxy"), &d->proxy);
+    channel->registerObject(QStringLiteral("previewProxy"), d->proxy);
     this->page()->setWebChannel(channel);
 
     QFile wrapperHtmlFile(":/resources/preview.html");
@@ -240,22 +240,22 @@ void HtmlPreview::setHtmlExporter(Exporter *exporter)
     
     d->exporter = exporter;
     d->setHtmlContent("");
-    d->proxy.setMathEnabled(d->exporter->supportsMath());
+    d->proxy->setMathEnabled(d->exporter->supportsMath());
     updatePreview();
 }
 
 void HtmlPreview::setStyleSheet(const QString &css)
 {
     Q_D(HtmlPreview);
-    
-    d->proxy.setStyleSheet(css);
+
+    d->proxy->setStyleSheet(css);
 }
 
 void HtmlPreview::setMathEnabled(bool enabled)
 {
     Q_D(HtmlPreview);
-    
-    d->proxy.setMathEnabled(enabled);
+
+    d->proxy->setMathEnabled(enabled);
 }
 
 void HtmlPreviewPrivate::onHtmlReady()
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ void HtmlPreview::closeEvent(QCloseEvent *event)
 
 void HtmlPreviewPrivate::setHtmlContent(const QString &html)
 {
-    this->proxy.setHtmlContent(html);
+    this->proxy->setHtmlContent(html);
 }
 
 QString HtmlPreviewPrivate::exportToHtml
diff --git a/src/settings/appsettings.cpp b/src/settings/appsettings.cpp
index a76c25a58..7d51ac5d7 100644
--- a/src/settings/appsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/settings/appsettings.cpp
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ class AppSettingsPrivate
     static AppSettings *instance;
 
     AppSettingsPrivate()
+        : currentHtmlExporter(nullptr)
     {
         ;
     }
@@ -677,6 +678,7 @@ void AppSettings::setShowUnbreakableSpaceEnabled(bool enabled)
     d->showUnbreakableSpaceEnabled = enabled;
     emit showUnbreakableSpaceEnabledChanged(d->showUnbreakableSpaceEnabled);
 }
+
 AppSettings::AppSettings()
     : d_ptr(new AppSettingsPrivate())
 {
@@ -843,17 +845,21 @@ AppSettings::AppSettings()
 
     QString exporterName = appSettings.value(constants::GW_LAST_USED_EXPORTER_KEY).toString();
 
+    d->currentHtmlExporter = nullptr;
+
     if (!exporterName.isEmpty()) {
         d->currentHtmlExporter = ExporterFactory::instance()->exporterByName(exporterName);
-    }
 
-    if (d->currentHtmlExporter) {
-        auto lastExportOptions = appSettings.value(constants::GW_LAST_USED_EXPORTER_PARAMS_KEY).toString();
+        if (d->currentHtmlExporter) {
+            auto lastExportOptions = appSettings.value(constants::GW_LAST_USED_EXPORTER_PARAMS_KEY).toString();
 
-        if (!lastExportOptions.isEmpty()) {
-            d->currentHtmlExporter->setOptions(lastExportOptions);
+            if (!lastExportOptions.isEmpty()) {
+                d->currentHtmlExporter->setOptions(lastExportOptions);
+            }
         }
-    } else {
+    }
+
+    if (!d->currentHtmlExporter) {
         d->currentHtmlExporter = ExporterFactory::instance()->htmlExporters().first();
     }
 }