diff --git a/modules/node/node.module b/modules/node/node.module
index 484c1ec..503d647 100644
--- a/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/modules/node/node.module
@@ -936,8 +936,12 @@ function node_save(&$node) {
   node_invoke($node, $op);
   node_invoke_nodeapi($node, $op);
 
-  // Update the node access table for this node.
-  node_access_acquire_grants($node);
+  // If there is a nid, update the node access table for this node.
+  // The reasons a nid is missing are many and hard to track, but we know for sure
+  // we don't want to acquire grants if its empty because then node_access gets broken.
+  if ($node->nid) {
+    node_access_acquire_grants($node);
+  }
 
   // Clear the page and block caches.
   cache_clear_all();