diff --git a/library/includes/bbcode.php b/library/includes/bbcode.php
index 29ea40982..9e34d8940 100644
--- a/library/includes/bbcode.php
+++ b/library/includes/bbcode.php
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ function generate_smilies($mode)
 
     $data = $datastore->get('smile_replacements');
 
-    if ($sql = $data['smile']) {
+    if (isset($data['smile']) && $sql = $data['smile']) {
         $num_smilies = 0;
         $rowset = [];
         foreach ($sql as $row) {