diff --git a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.cpp b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.cpp
index f92b277274..c239cfe6c3 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.cpp
+++ b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.cpp
@@ -448,7 +448,14 @@ void destroySwapChain(VulkanContext& context, VulkanSurfaceContext& surfaceConte
         disposer.release(swapContext.commands.resources);
         vkFreeCommandBuffers(context.device, context.commandPool, 1,
                 &swapContext.commands.cmdbuffer);
+
+        // The wrapper object for the submission fence has shared ownership semantics, so here
+        // we notify other owners that the swap chain (and its associated command buffers) have
+        // been destroyed.
+        swapContext.commands.fence->swapChainDestroyed = true;
+
         swapContext.commands.fence.reset();
+
         vkDestroyImageView(context.device, swapContext.attachment.view, VKALLOC);
         swapContext.commands.fence = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
         swapContext.attachment.view = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
diff --git a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.h b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.h
index aaaa25a635..58a8a94bce 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.h
+++ b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanContext.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ struct VulkanCmdFence {
     utils::Condition condition;
     utils::Mutex mutex;
     std::atomic<VkResult> status;
+    bool swapChainDestroyed = false;
 
     // TODO: for non-work buffers the following field indicates if the fence has EVER been
     // submitted, which is a bit misleading or un-useful. This needs to be refactored.
diff --git a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanDriver.cpp b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanDriver.cpp
index 76c2021141..ce603ccbed 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanDriver.cpp
+++ b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanDriver.cpp
@@ -679,6 +679,9 @@ FenceStatus VulkanDriver::wait(Handle<HwFence> fh, uint64_t timeout) {
     } else {
         lock.unlock();
     }
+    if (cmdfence->swapChainDestroyed) {
+        return FenceStatus::ERROR;
+    }
     VkResult result = vkWaitForFences(mContext.device, 1, &cmdfence->fence, VK_FALSE, timeout);
     return result == VK_SUCCESS ? FenceStatus::CONDITION_SATISFIED : FenceStatus::TIMEOUT_EXPIRED;
 }
@@ -830,6 +833,9 @@ SyncStatus VulkanDriver::getSyncStatus(Handle<HwSync> sh) {
     if (sync->fence == nullptr) {
         return SyncStatus::NOT_SIGNALED;
     }
+    if (sync->fence->swapChainDestroyed) {
+        return SyncStatus::ERROR;
+    }
     VkResult status = sync->fence->status.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
     switch (status) {
         case VK_SUCCESS: return SyncStatus::SIGNALED;