diff --git a/src/js/visuals/visNode.js b/src/js/visuals/visNode.js
index ac24293e..21132d1e 100644
--- a/src/js/visuals/visNode.js
+++ b/src/js/visuals/visNode.js
@@ -342,7 +342,10 @@ var VisNode = VisBase.extend({
   remove: function() {
     this.removeKeys(['circle'], ['text']);
     // needs a manual removal of text for whatever reason
-    this.get('text').remove();
+    var text = this.get('text');
+    if (text) {
+      text.remove();
+    }
 
     this.gitVisuals.removeVisNode(this);
   },