diff --git a/pathauto.module b/pathauto.module
index 7f45236..4fe7441 100644
--- a/pathauto.module
+++ b/pathauto.module
@@ -365,14 +365,22 @@ function pathauto_entity_load($entities, $type) {
   static $drupal_static_fast;
 
   if (!isset($drupal_static_fast)) {
-    $drupal_static_fast = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__);
+    $drupal_static_fast['types'] = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__);
   }
 
-  $path_auto_entity_types = &$drupal_static_fast;
+  $path_auto_entity_types = &$drupal_static_fast['types'];
 
-  // Save the entity types used statically to avoid unnessasary queries later.
+  // Save the entity types used statically to avoid unnecessary queries later.
   if (!isset($path_auto_entity_types)) {
-    $path_auto_entity_types = db_query("SELECT entity_type FROM {pathauto_state} GROUP BY entity_type")->fetchAllKeyed(0, 0);
+    try {
+      $path_auto_entity_types = db_query("SELECT entity_type FROM {pathauto_state} GROUP BY entity_type")->fetchAllKeyed(0, 0);
+    }
+    catch (PDOException $e) {
+      if ($e->getCode() === '42S02') {
+        watchdog('pathauto', 'The pathauto_state table was not found. Be sure that all database updates have been run.', array(), WATCHDOG_ALERT);
+        return;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   // We aren't storing state for this type at the moment.