diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/fenix/FenixApplication.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/fenix/FenixApplication.kt
index 086035b130..64a76a0679 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/fenix/FenixApplication.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/fenix/FenixApplication.kt
@@ -431,8 +431,17 @@ open class FenixApplication : LocaleAwareApplication(), Provider {
         // https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/143570309#comment3
         applicationContext.resources.configuration.uiMode = config.uiMode
 
-        // random StrictMode onDiskRead violation even when Fenix is not running in the background.
-        components.strictMode.resetAfter(StrictMode.allowThreadDiskReads()) {
+        if (isMainProcess()) {
+            // We can only do this on the main process as resetAfter will access components.core, which
+            // will initialize the engine and create an additional GeckoRuntime from the Gecko
+            // child process, causing a crash.
+
+            // There's a strict mode violation in A-Cs LocaleAwareApplication which
+            // reads from shared prefs: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/android-components/issues/8816
+            components.strictMode.resetAfter(StrictMode.allowThreadDiskReads()) {
+                super.onConfigurationChanged(config)
+            }
+        } else {
             super.onConfigurationChanged(config)
         }
     }