Apparently this is caused by a rogue Gnome Shell extension. Running gnome-shell inside a gdb session reveals the following BT after the crash: ... Thread 1 "gnome-shell" received signal SIGABRT, Aborted. __GI_raise (sig=sig@entry=6) at ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/raise.c:58 58 ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/raise.c: No such file or directory. #0 0x00007f21589ce77f in __GI_raise (sig=sig@entry=6) at ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/raise.c:58 #1 0x00007f21589d037a in __GI_abort () at abort.c:89 #2 0x00007f2158fef135 in g_assertion_message () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 #3 0x00007f2158fef1ca in g_assertion_message_expr () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 #4 0x00007f215b3a745c in () at /usr/lib/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell.so #5 0x00007f21592a82f8 in g_object_run_dispose () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #6 0x00007f2159ad95ee in clutter_actor_destroy () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #7 0x00007f21542f7e18 in ffi_call_unix64 () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libffi.so.6 #8 0x00007f21542f787a in ffi_call () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libffi.so.6 #9 0x00007f215aea2a5f in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #10 0x00007f215aea4114 in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #11 0x00007f2153c08cd8 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #12 0x00007f2153bfe797 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #13 0x00007f2153c0896b in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #14 0x00007f2153c08c24 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #15 0x00007f2153c09845 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #16 0x00007f2153ed0297 in JS_CallFunctionValue(JSContext*, JS::Handle, JS::Handle, JS::HandleValueArray const&, JS::MutableHandle) () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #17 0x00007f215aec31c6 in gjs_call_function_value () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #18 0x00007f215ae9e2e5 in gjs_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #19 0x00007f215aeb603c in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #20 0x00007f21592a1c25 in g_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #21 0x00007f21592b3c32 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #22 0x00007f21592bc88c in g_signal_emit_valist () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #23 0x00007f21592bcc6f in g_signal_emit () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #24 0x00007f2159ae584c in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #25 0x00007f215b395da3 in () at /usr/lib/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell.so #26 0x00007f21592a82f8 in g_object_run_dispose () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #27 0x00007f2159ad95ee in clutter_actor_destroy () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #28 0x00007f2159ae05a4 in clutter_actor_iter_destroy () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #29 0x00007f2159ae0648 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #30 0x00007f21592a1c25 in g_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #31 0x00007f21592b3f46 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #32 0x00007f21592bc88c in g_signal_emit_valist () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #33 0x00007f21592bcc6f in g_signal_emit () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #34 0x00007f2159ae584c in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #35 0x00007f21592a82f8 in g_object_run_dispose () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #36 0x00007f2159ad95ee in clutter_actor_destroy () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mutter/libmutter-clutter-0.so #37 0x00007f21542f7e18 in ffi_call_unix64 () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libffi.so.6 #38 0x00007f21542f787a in ffi_call () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libffi.so.6 #39 0x00007f215aea2a5f in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #40 0x00007f215aea4114 in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #41 0x00007f2153c08cd8 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #42 0x00007f2153bfe797 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #43 0x00007f2153c0896b in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #44 0x00007f2153c08c24 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #45 0x00007f2153c09845 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #46 0x00007f2153ed0297 in JS_CallFunctionValue(JSContext*, JS::Handle, JS::Handle, JS::HandleValueArray const&, JS::MutableHandle) () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjs.so.0 #47 0x00007f215aec31c6 in gjs_call_function_value () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #48 0x00007f215ae9e2e5 in gjs_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #49 0x00007f215aeb603c in () at /usr/lib/libgjs.so.0 #50 0x00007f21592a1c25 in g_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #51 0x00007f21592b3c32 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #52 0x00007f21592bc88c in g_signal_emit_valist () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #53 0x00007f21592bcc6f in g_signal_emit () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #54 0x00007f215b397b29 in () at /usr/lib/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell.so #55 0x00007f21592a4cb0 in g_cclosure_marshal_VOID__OBJECTv () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #56 0x00007f21592a1e54 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #57 0x00007f21592bc57d in g_signal_emit_valist () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #58 0x00007f21592bcc6f in g_signal_emit () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #59 0x00007f215b3cf131 in () at /usr/lib/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell.so #60 0x00007f215a016c97 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgtk-3.so.0 #61 0x00007f21592a1c25 in g_closure_invoke () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #62 0x00007f21592b3c32 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #63 0x00007f21592bc32f in g_signal_emit_valist () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #64 0x00007f21592bd11b in g_signal_emit_by_name () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0 #65 0x00007f215a1a98a3 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgtk-3.so.0 #66 0x00007f2155a28c81 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgdk-3.so.0 #67 0x00007f2155a28f56 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgdk-3.so.0 #68 0x00007f21559f3259 in gdk_display_get_event () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgdk-3.so.0 #69 0x00007f2155a28cf2 in () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgdk-3.so.0 #70 0x00007f2158fc8377 in g_main_context_dispatch () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 #71 0x00007f2158fc85e0 in () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 #72 0x00007f2158fc8902 in g_main_loop_run () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 #73 0x00007f215a7828ec in meta_run () at /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libmutter-0.so.0 #74 0x0000562b1f7591a7 in main () Continuing. ... The clue is in the invocations inside of libjs which eventually lead to the g_assertion invocation failing and the subsequent SIGBABRT. After a little bit of try and error, it turns out that disabling the extension Topicons Plus causes the issue to disappear. Full issue tracker is on Github: https://github.com/phocean/TopIcons-plus/issues/88.