diff --git a/launcher/BaseInstance.cpp b/launcher/BaseInstance.cpp
index 3b4612c73..aa7812649 100644
--- a/launcher/BaseInstance.cpp
+++ b/launcher/BaseInstance.cpp
@@ -427,7 +427,19 @@ QList<ShortcutData> BaseInstance::shortcuts() const
     QList<ShortcutData> results;
     for (const auto& elem : document.array()) {
         auto dict = elem.toObject();
-        results.append({ dict["name"].toString(), dict["filePath"].toString(), static_cast<ShortcutTarget>(dict["target"].toInt()) });
+        if (!dict.contains("name") || !dict.contains("filePath") || !dict.contains("target"))
+            return {};
+        int value = dict["target"].toInt(-1);
+        if (!dict["name"].isString() || !dict["filePath"].isString() || value < 0 || value >= 3)
+            return {};
+
+        QString shortcutName = dict["name"].toString();
+        QString filePath = dict["filePath"].toString();
+        if (!QDir(filePath).exists()) {
+            qWarning() << "Shortcut" << shortcutName << "for instance" << name() << "have non-existent path" << filePath;
+            continue;
+        }
+        results.append({ shortcutName, filePath, static_cast<ShortcutTarget>(value) });
     }
     return results;
 }
diff --git a/launcher/InstanceList.cpp b/launcher/InstanceList.cpp
index f6512b25d..de94db7c3 100644
--- a/launcher/InstanceList.cpp
+++ b/launcher/InstanceList.cpp
@@ -686,18 +686,7 @@ InstancePtr InstanceList::loadInstance(const InstanceId& id)
     }
     qDebug() << "Loaded instance" << inst->name() << "from" << inst->instanceRoot();
 
-    // Fixup the shortcuts by pruning all non-existing links
     auto shortcut = inst->shortcuts();
-    for (auto it = shortcut.begin(); it != shortcut.end();) {
-        const auto& [name, filePath, target] = *it;
-        if (!QDir(filePath).exists()) {
-            qWarning() << "Shortcut" << name << "have non-existent path" << filePath;
-            it = shortcut.erase(it);
-            continue;
-        }
-        ++it;
-    }
-    inst->setShortcuts(shortcut);
     if (!shortcut.isEmpty())
         qDebug() << "Loaded" << shortcut.size() << "shortcut(s) for instance" << inst->name();