diff --git a/app/serializers/pending_post_serializer.rb b/app/serializers/pending_post_serializer.rb
index 9c0c7ce3bb7..f3163ba0a6d 100644
--- a/app/serializers/pending_post_serializer.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/pending_post_serializer.rb
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@ class PendingPostSerializer < ApplicationSerializer
   end
 
   def title
-    payload["title"] || topic.title
+    payload["title"] || topic&.title
   end
 end