diff --git a/src/plugins/help/helpplugin.cpp b/src/plugins/help/helpplugin.cpp
index 5bfb72c20124722eb48e2e435f995b55f7cc70a9..611ac2af59fab453a1ad3f5a211b70b32deb1a75 100644
--- a/src/plugins/help/helpplugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/help/helpplugin.cpp
@@ -838,9 +838,9 @@ HelpViewer* HelpPlugin::viewerForContextMode()
     }
 
     if (placeHolder && showSideBySide) {
+        createRightPaneContextViewer();
         RightPaneWidget::instance()->setWidget(m_rightPaneSideBarWidget);
         RightPaneWidget::instance()->setShown(true);
-        createRightPaneContextViewer();
         return m_helpViewerForSideBar;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/qt4projectmanager/gettingstartedwelcomepagewidget.cpp b/src/plugins/qt4projectmanager/gettingstartedwelcomepagewidget.cpp
index f20b7240cddf9165de76dd8bbaddffda8f15cc33..1458c4ec50c00e24a9a8463f60921539a015e1eb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qt4projectmanager/gettingstartedwelcomepagewidget.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qt4projectmanager/gettingstartedwelcomepagewidget.cpp
@@ -439,8 +439,12 @@ void GettingStartedWelcomePageWidget::slotOpenExample()
     }
     if (ProjectExplorer::ProjectExplorerPlugin::instance()->openProject(proFile)) {
         Core::ICore::instance()->openFiles(files);
-        if (!helpFile.isEmpty())
-            slotOpenContextHelpPage(helpFile);
+        if (!helpFile.isEmpty()) {
+            // queue this to make sure it gets executed after the editor widget
+            // has been drawn, so we know whether to show a split help or not
+            QMetaObject::invokeMethod(this, "slotOpenContextHelpPage",
+                                      Qt::QueuedConnection, Q_ARG(QString, helpFile));
+        }
     }
 }