diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/album.cpp b/src/libtomahawk/album.cpp
index f3e426a0a..fbf362427 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/album.cpp
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/album.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ Album::~Album()
 album_ptr
 Album::get( const Tomahawk::artist_ptr& artist, const QString& name, bool autoCreate )
 {
+    if ( !Database::instance() || !Database::instance()->impl() )
+        return album_ptr();
+
     int albid = Database::instance()->impl()->albumId( artist->id(), name, autoCreate );
     if ( albid < 1 && autoCreate )
         return album_ptr();
diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/artist.cpp b/src/libtomahawk/artist.cpp
index 18937c4a8..cdefc2505 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/artist.cpp
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/artist.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ Artist::~Artist()
 artist_ptr
 Artist::get( const QString& name, bool autoCreate )
 {
+    if ( !Database::instance() || !Database::instance()->impl() )
+        return artist_ptr();
+
     int artid = Database::instance()->impl()->artistId( name, autoCreate );
     if ( artid < 1 && autoCreate )
         return artist_ptr();