diff --git a/lib/bcoin/pool.js b/lib/bcoin/pool.js
index 32d6a8d2..4ba71931 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/pool.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/pool.js
@@ -440,9 +440,11 @@ Pool.prototype._load = function _load() {
 
   this.load.hiReached = false;
 
-  this.emit('debug',
-    'Requesting inv packet from %s with getblocks',
-    this.peers.load.address);
+  if (this.peers.load) {
+    this.emit('debug',
+      'Requesting inv packet from %s with getblocks',
+      this.peers.load.address);
+  }
 
   if (!this.options.fullNode) {
     next = function(hash) {