diff --git content/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_aura.cc content/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_aura.cc
index e065ce0700764..9c68e224c050f 100644
--- content/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_aura.cc
+++ content/browser/renderer_host/render_widget_host_view_aura.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <limits>
 #include <memory>
+#include <tuple>
 #include <set>
 #include <utility>
 
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@
 #include "content/public/browser/content_browser_client.h"
 #include "content/public/browser/device_service.h"
 #include "content/public/browser/render_view_host.h"
+#include "content/public/browser/web_contents.h"
 #include "content/public/common/page_visibility_state.h"
 #include "services/service_manager/public/cpp/interface_provider.h"
 #include "third_party/blink/public/common/input/web_input_event.h"
@@ -724,10 +726,12 @@ gfx::Rect RenderWidgetHostViewAura::GetViewBounds() {
 void RenderWidgetHostViewAura::UpdateBackgroundColor() {
   DCHECK(GetBackgroundColor());
 
-  SkColor color = *GetBackgroundColor();
-  bool opaque = SkColorGetA(color) == SK_AlphaOPAQUE;
-  window_->layer()->SetFillsBoundsOpaquely(opaque);
-  window_->layer()->SetColor(color);
+  if (window_) {
+    SkColor color = *GetBackgroundColor();
+    bool opaque = SkColorGetA(color) == SK_AlphaOPAQUE;
+    window_->layer()->SetFillsBoundsOpaquely(opaque);
+    window_->layer()->SetColor(color);
+  }
 }
 
 #if BUILDFLAG(IS_WIN)
@@ -2352,6 +2356,16 @@ void RenderWidgetHostViewAura::CreateAuraWindow(aura::client::WindowType type) {
   window_->layer()->SetColor(GetBackgroundColor() ? *GetBackgroundColor()
                                                   : SK_ColorWHITE);
   UpdateFrameSinkIdRegistration();
+
+  // Do this after |window_| is created to avoid crashes on Win10.
+  // See https://crbug.com/761389.
+  auto* web_contents =
+      WebContents::FromRenderViewHost(RenderViewHost::From(host()));
+  if (web_contents) {
+    // TODO(mostynb): actually use prefs.  Landing this as a separate CL
+    // first to rebaseline some unreliable layout tests.
+    std::ignore = web_contents->GetOrCreateWebPreferences();
+  }
 }
 
 void RenderWidgetHostViewAura::UpdateFrameSinkIdRegistration() {