diff --git a/src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m b/src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
index 10d4d00d38..6a031e8bce 100644
--- a/src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
+++ b/src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
@@ -2126,6 +2126,7 @@ static bool SetupWindowData(SDL_VideoDevice *_this, SDL_Window *window, NSWindow
         if (!data) {
             return SDL_OutOfMemory();
         }
+        window->internal = (SDL_WindowData *)CFBridgingRetain(data);
         data.window = window;
         data.nswindow = nswindow;
         data.videodata = videodata;
@@ -2247,7 +2248,6 @@ static bool SetupWindowData(SDL_VideoDevice *_this, SDL_Window *window, NSWindow
         SDL_SetNumberProperty(props, SDL_PROP_WINDOW_COCOA_METAL_VIEW_TAG_NUMBER, SDL_METALVIEW_TAG);
 
         // All done!
-        window->internal = (SDL_WindowData *)CFBridgingRetain(data);
         return true;
     }
 }