--- includes/theme.inc	Sun Jan 10 11:21:04 2010
+++ includes/theme-new.inc	Sun Jan 10 11:21:28 2010
@@ -958,6 +958,11 @@
   global $theme_key;
   static $settings;
 
+  // Make sure the theme has been initialized
+  if (!isset($theme_key)) {
+    init_theme();
+  }
+  
   if (empty($settings) || $refresh) {
     $settings = theme_get_settings($theme_key);