diff --git a/xpcom/base/nsDebugImpl.cpp b/xpcom/base/nsDebugImpl.cpp
index ec08c0d3a0c..dbcf58f67d9 100644
--- a/xpcom/base/nsDebugImpl.cpp
+++ b/xpcom/base/nsDebugImpl.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 # include "nsExceptionHandler.h"
 #endif
 #include "nsString.h"
+#include "nsXULAppAPI.h"
 #include "prprf.h"
 #include "prlog.h"
 #include "nsError.h"
@@ -413,12 +414,17 @@ NS_DebugBreak(uint32_t aSeverity, const char* aStr, const char* aExpr,
 
     case NS_DEBUG_ABORT: {
 #if defined(MOZ_CRASHREPORTER)
-      nsCString note("xpcom_runtime_abort(");
-      note += buf.buffer;
-      note += ")";
-      CrashReporter::AppendAppNotesToCrashReport(note);
-      CrashReporter::AnnotateCrashReport(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("AbortMessage"),
-                                         nsDependentCString(buf.buffer));
+      // Updating crash annotations in the child causes us to do IPC. This can
+      // really cause trouble if we're asserting from within IPC code. So we
+      // have to do without the annotations in that case.
+      if (XRE_GetProcessType() == GeckoProcessType_Default) {
+        nsCString note("xpcom_runtime_abort(");
+        note += buf.buffer;
+        note += ")";
+        CrashReporter::AppendAppNotesToCrashReport(note);
+        CrashReporter::AnnotateCrashReport(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("AbortMessage"),
+                                           nsDependentCString(buf.buffer));
+      }
 #endif  // MOZ_CRASHREPORTER
 
 #if defined(DEBUG) && defined(_WIN32)