diff --git a/src/caosdb/configuration.cpp b/src/caosdb/configuration.cpp
index 7d6a6f0c66be8d7ef058a603b8fea7c0da11574a..ed3385a8262107e70b099764cbda6f6065bfaf8b 100644
--- a/src/caosdb/configuration.cpp
+++ b/src/caosdb/configuration.cpp
@@ -508,7 +508,8 @@ auto ConfigurationManager::InitializeDefaults() -> int {
     mLoadSingleJSONConfiguration(*configuration_file_path);
   }
 
-  if (this->json_configuration.as_object().contains("logging")) {
+  if (this->json_configuration.is_object() &&
+      this->json_configuration.as_object().contains("logging")) {
     LoggingConfiguration logging_configuration =
       logging_configuration_helper.CreateLoggingConfiguration(
         json_configuration.at("logging").as_object());