diff --git a/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.ide/src/org/eclipse/ui/internal/wizards/datatransfer/SmartImportJob.java b/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.ide/src/org/eclipse/ui/internal/wizards/datatransfer/SmartImportJob.java
index c7bf3059348..6b0596e9ef1 100644
--- a/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.ide/src/org/eclipse/ui/internal/wizards/datatransfer/SmartImportJob.java
+++ b/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.ide/src/org/eclipse/ui/internal/wizards/datatransfer/SmartImportJob.java
@@ -168,13 +168,11 @@ public void setListener(RecursiveImportListener listener) {
 
 	@Override
 	public IStatus run(IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+		IWorkspace workspace = ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace();
+		boolean isAutoBuilding = workspace.isAutoBuilding();
 		try {
-			IWorkspace workspace = ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace();
-			IWorkspaceDescription description = workspace.getDescription();
-			boolean isAutoBuilding = workspace.isAutoBuilding();
 			if (isAutoBuilding) {
-				description.setAutoBuilding(false);
-				workspace.setDescription(description);
+				setAutoBuilding(workspace, false);
 			}
 
 			if (directoriesToImport != null) {
@@ -270,21 +268,32 @@ protected IStatus run(IProgressMonitor aMonitor) {
 					try {
 						project.close(monitor);
 					} catch (CoreException e) {
-						listener.errorHappened(project.getLocation(), e);
+						if (listener != null) {
+							listener.errorHappened(project.getLocation(), e);
+						}
 					}
 				});
 			}
-
-			if (isAutoBuilding) {
-				description.setAutoBuilding(true);
-				workspace.setDescription(description);
-			}
 		} catch (Exception ex) {
 			return new Status(IStatus.ERROR, IDEWorkbenchPlugin.IDE_WORKBENCH, ex.getMessage(), ex);
+		} finally {
+			if (isAutoBuilding) {
+				try {
+					setAutoBuilding(workspace, true);
+				} catch (CoreException ex) {
+					IDEWorkbenchPlugin.log("Could not restore auto-building after import", ex); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				}
+			}
 		}
 		return Status.OK_STATUS;
 	}
 
+	private static void setAutoBuilding(IWorkspace workspace, boolean autoBuilding) throws CoreException {
+		IWorkspaceDescription description = workspace.getDescription();
+		description.setAutoBuilding(autoBuilding);
+		workspace.setDescription(description);
+	}
+
 	protected boolean rootProjectWorthBeingRemoved() {
 		if (this.report.size() == 1) {
 			return false;
diff --git a/tests/org.eclipse.ui.tests/Eclipse UI Tests/org/eclipse/ui/tests/datatransfer/SmartImportTests.java b/tests/org.eclipse.ui.tests/Eclipse UI Tests/org/eclipse/ui/tests/datatransfer/SmartImportTests.java
index 9c26d87df35..b15869f9f12 100644
--- a/tests/org.eclipse.ui.tests/Eclipse UI Tests/org/eclipse/ui/tests/datatransfer/SmartImportTests.java	
+++ b/tests/org.eclipse.ui.tests/Eclipse UI Tests/org/eclipse/ui/tests/datatransfer/SmartImportTests.java	
@@ -572,4 +572,20 @@ public void testSmartImportJobSkipsDotFoldersInProposals() throws Exception {
 			org.eclipse.core.tests.harness.FileSystemHelper.clear(tempDir.toFile());
 		}
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testAutoBuildingRestoredAfterFailedImport() throws Exception {
+		assertTrue("Test expects auto-building to be enabled", ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace().isAutoBuilding());
+		// a regular file as import root makes the project creation fail
+		java.nio.file.Path notADirectory = Files.createTempFile("smartImportFailure", ".txt");
+		try {
+			SmartImportJob job = new SmartImportJob(notADirectory.toFile(), Collections.emptySet(), true, true);
+			IStatus status = job.run(new NullProgressMonitor());
+			assertEquals("Import was expected to fail", IStatus.ERROR, status.getSeverity());
+			assertTrue("Auto-building must be restored after a failed import",
+					ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace().isAutoBuilding());
+		} finally {
+			Files.deleteIfExists(notADirectory);
+		}
+	}
 }