diff --git a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/Source/Integration/Assets/ActorAsset.cpp b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/Source/Integration/Assets/ActorAsset.cpp
index 0a1137d7d9..69cccace81 100644
--- a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/Source/Integration/Assets/ActorAsset.cpp
+++ b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/Source/Integration/Assets/ActorAsset.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ namespace EMotionFX
                 &actorSettings,
                 "");
 
+            // Set the is owned by runtime flag before finalizing the actor, as that uses the flag already.
+            assetData->m_emfxActor->SetIsOwnedByRuntime(true);
             assetData->m_emfxActor->Finalize();
 
             // Clear out the EMFX raw asset data.
@@ -74,8 +76,6 @@ namespace EMotionFX
                 return false;
             }
 
-            assetData->m_emfxActor->SetIsOwnedByRuntime(true);
-
             // Note: Render actor depends on the mesh asset, so we need to manually create it after mesh asset has been loaded.
             return static_cast<bool>(assetData->m_emfxActor);
         }