diff --git a/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.h b/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.h
index f30d2b8676..12955927ad 100644
--- a/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.h
+++ b/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.h
@@ -360,6 +360,8 @@ public:
 	MTLPixelFormat BackbufferFormat() const { return MTLPixelFormatBGRA8Unorm; }
 	// The offscreen backbuffer, or nil when rendering to the layer.
 	id<MTLTexture> OffscreenBackbuffer() const { return offscreenBackbuffer_; }
+	// False until something renders to the backbuffer (headless never does).
+	bool BackbufferDrawn() const { return backbufferDrawn_; }
 
 	// Render passes. The pass is started lazily, see above.
 	void BindRenderPass(const MetalRenderPassDesc &desc);
@@ -480,6 +482,7 @@ private:
 	// Recording state (emu thread).
 	MetalCommandChunk *chunk_ = nullptr;
 	id<MTLTexture> offscreenBackbuffer_;
+	bool backbufferDrawn_ = false;
 	id<MTLTexture> bbDepth_;
 	int bbWidth_ = 0;
 	int bbHeight_ = 0;
diff --git a/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.mm b/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.mm
index a606a20efa..4b322bf321 100644
--- a/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.mm
+++ b/Common/GPU/Metal/MetalRenderManager.mm
@@ -494,6 +494,7 @@ void MetalRenderManager::BindBackbufferPass(MTLLoadAction colorLoad, MTLClearCol
 		// Already rendering to it.
 		return;
 	}
+	backbufferDrawn_ = true;
 	EndRenderPass();
 	MetalRenderPassDesc desc{};
 	desc.colorLoad = colorLoad;
diff --git a/Common/GPU/Metal/thin3d_metal.mm b/Common/GPU/Metal/thin3d_metal.mm
index 0228ecb025..dcc54fc4d6 100644
--- a/Common/GPU/Metal/thin3d_metal.mm
+++ b/Common/GPU/Metal/thin3d_metal.mm
@@ -1039,7 +1039,8 @@ bool MetalDrawContext::CopyFramebufferToMemory(Framebuffer *srcfb, Aspect aspect
 		texW = (int)srcTex.width;
 		texH = (int)srcTex.height;
 		srcFormat = srcTex.pixelFormat;
-	} else if (aspect != Aspect::COLOR_BIT) {
+	} else if (aspect != Aspect::COLOR_BIT || !rm_->BackbufferDrawn()) {
+		// Like headless Vulkan, which has no backbuffer. The GE debugger shows the PSP's framebuffer instead.
 		return false;
 	} else if (rm_->OffscreenBackbuffer()) {
 		srcTex = rm_->OffscreenBackbuffer();