diff --git a/ForwardDetectors/ZDC/ZdcNtuple/Root/ZdcNtuple.cxx b/ForwardDetectors/ZDC/ZdcNtuple/Root/ZdcNtuple.cxx
index ba4b25cc916ea714df546dbad249f2a9bcd44fd6..9bd4dfd935b2c275639783c84ff6b2cfa3758455 100644
--- a/ForwardDetectors/ZDC/ZdcNtuple/Root/ZdcNtuple.cxx
+++ b/ForwardDetectors/ZDC/ZdcNtuple/Root/ZdcNtuple.cxx
@@ -835,8 +835,11 @@ void ZdcNtuple::processZdcNtupleFromModules()
     }
     if (!globalSum) {
       ANA_MSG_ERROR("unable to locate global ZdcSum (side = 0)");
+      t_centroidDecorationsAvailable = false;
+    }
+    else {
+      t_centroidDecorationsAvailable = centroidStatusAcc.isAvailable(*globalSum);
     }
-    t_centroidDecorationsAvailable = centroidStatusAcc.isAvailable(*globalSum);
   }
 
   if (rpdErr||zdcErr) ANA_MSG_WARNING( "Decoding errors ZDC=" << zdcErr << " RPD=" << rpdErr );