diff --git a/Core/GameEngineDevice/Source/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DMouse.cpp b/Core/GameEngineDevice/Source/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DMouse.cpp
index 5b71653c8d8..11d913b8252 100644
--- a/Core/GameEngineDevice/Source/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DMouse.cpp
+++ b/Core/GameEngineDevice/Source/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DMouse.cpp
@@ -75,8 +75,15 @@ void MouseThreadClass::Thread_Function()
     while (running)
     {
         isThread = TRUE;
-        if (TheMouse)
-            TheMouse->draw();
+        // Hold the mutex for the TheMouse check AND the draw() call together so
+        // that TheMouse cannot be destroyed between the null-check and the actual
+        // dereference. CriticalSectionClass uses a Windows CRITICAL_SECTION which
+        // is re-entrant per-thread, so the nested acquisition inside draw() is safe.
+        {
+            CriticalSectionClass::LockClass m(mutex);
+            if (TheMouse)
+                TheMouse->draw();
+        }
         isThread = FALSE;
         Switch_Thread();
     }
@@ -108,6 +115,12 @@ W3DMouse::W3DMouse()
 
 W3DMouse::~W3DMouse()
 {
+    // Stop the mouse update thread FIRST, before freeing any assets it may be
+    // actively using. If the thread is mid-draw(), Stop() will wait for it to
+    // finish before returning, preventing a use-after-free when we release
+    // D3D/W3D resources below.
+    thread.Stop();
+
     LPDIRECT3DDEVICE8 m_pDev = DX8Wrapper::_Get_D3D_Device8();
 
     if (m_pDev)
@@ -119,8 +132,6 @@ W3DMouse::~W3DMouse()
     freeD3DAssets();
     freeW3DAssets();
 
-    thread.Stop();
-
 }
 
 void W3DMouse::initPolygonAssets()