diff --git a/taxonomy_menu.module b/taxonomy_menu.module
index 012a848..db50ea8 100644
--- a/taxonomy_menu.module
+++ b/taxonomy_menu.module
@@ -481,7 +481,9 @@ function _taxonomy_menu_taxonomy_termapi_helper($term, $operation) {
  */
 function _taxonomy_menu_nodeapi_helper($op, $terms = array(), $node) {
   foreach ($terms as $key => $tid) {
-    $term = taxonomy_term_load($tid);
+    if (!$term = taxonomy_term_load($tid)) {
+      continue;
+    }
 
     // update the menu for each term if necessary
     $menu_name = variable_get(_taxonomy_menu_build_variable('vocab_menu', $term->vid), FALSE);