diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
index 6d156e3fc8..95de72b7bf 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
@@ -322,8 +322,10 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Trees
 
                 var nodes = GetTreeNodesInternal(id, queryStrings);
 
-                //only render the recycle bin if we are not in dialog and the start id id still the root
-                if (IsDialog(queryStrings) == false && id == Constants.System.RootString)
+                //only render the recycle bin if we are not in dialog and the start id is still the root
+                //we need to check for the "application" key in the queryString because its value is required here,
+                //and for some reason when there are no dashboards, this parameter is missing  
+                if (IsDialog(queryStrings) == false && id == Constants.System.RootString && queryStrings.HasKey("application"))
                 {
                     nodes.Add(CreateTreeNode(
                         RecycleBinId.ToInvariantString(),