diff --git a/src/blackboard.cpp b/src/blackboard.cpp
index 13e906e9f..65bd8d92a 100644
--- a/src/blackboard.cpp
+++ b/src/blackboard.cpp
@@ -536,6 +536,10 @@ void ImportBlackboardFromJSON(const nlohmann::json& json, Blackboard& blackboard
         blackboard.createEntry(it.key(), res->second);
         entry = blackboard.getEntry(it.key());
       }
+      if(!entry)
+      {
+        continue;  // a concurrent unset() removed it right after createEntry()
+      }
       // Lock entry_mutex before writing to prevent data races (BUG-4 fix).
       std::shared_ptr<Blackboard::EntryUpdatedSignal> update_signal;
       {