diff --git a/atom/browser/ui/cocoa/atom_menu_controller.mm b/atom/browser/ui/cocoa/atom_menu_controller.mm
index 695807135ebd7..e28504a26a60c 100644
--- a/atom/browser/ui/cocoa/atom_menu_controller.mm
+++ b/atom/browser/ui/cocoa/atom_menu_controller.mm
@@ -246,6 +246,11 @@ - (void)addItemToMenu:(NSMenu*)menu
     [NSApp setServicesMenu:submenu];
   } else if (type == atom::AtomMenuModel::TYPE_SUBMENU &&
              model->IsVisibleAt(index)) {
+    // We need to specifically check that the submenu top-level item has been
+    // enabled as it's not validated by validateUserInterfaceItem
+    if (!model->IsEnabledAt(index))
+      [item setEnabled:NO];
+
     // Recursively build a submenu from the sub-model at this index.
     [item setTarget:nil];
     [item setAction:nil];