diff --git a/libtaskmanager/tasksmodel.cpp b/libtaskmanager/tasksmodel.cpp
index 2dde23ec3..4aaf5132d 100644
--- a/libtaskmanager/tasksmodel.cpp
+++ b/libtaskmanager/tasksmodel.cpp
@@ -166,6 +166,9 @@ void TasksModel::Private::initModels()
             updateActivityTaskCounts();
             forceResort();
         }
+        // the active task may have potentially changed, so signal that so that users
+        // will recompute it
+        Q_EMIT q->activeTaskChanged();
     });
 
     QObject::connect(windowTasksModel,