Index: source/blender/blenkernel/intern/blender.c
===================================================================
--- source/blender/blenkernel/intern/blender.c	(revision 27093)
+++ source/blender/blenkernel/intern/blender.c	(working copy)
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@
 		curscene= bfd->curscene;
 		if(curscene==NULL) curscene= bfd->main->scene.first;
 		/* and we enforce curscene to be in current screen */
-		curscreen->scene= curscene;
+		if (!G.background) curscreen->scene= curscene;
 
 		/* clear_global will free G.main, here we can still restore pointers */
 		lib_link_screen_restore(bfd->main, curscene);
Index: source/blender/src/space.c
===================================================================
--- source/blender/src/space.c	(revision 27093)
+++ source/blender/src/space.c	(working copy)
@@ -6638,6 +6638,7 @@
 	SpaceButs *buts;
 	SpaceFile *sfile;
 
+	if (G.background) return;
 	sa= G.curscreen->areabase.first;
 	while(sa) {