diff --git a/geomagio/ObservatoryMetadata.py b/geomagio/ObservatoryMetadata.py
index a5218268c7b7b3e44d52741fd3e59bda900d2d12..7cc75610d9cec28f4599df309013a069eab06ec5 100644
--- a/geomagio/ObservatoryMetadata.py
+++ b/geomagio/ObservatoryMetadata.py
@@ -996,6 +996,8 @@ class ObservatoryMetadata(object):
         stats['channel'] = channel
         stats['data_interval'] = interval
         stats['data_type'] = type
+        if not observatory in self.metadata:
+            return
         # copy in standard metadata
         metadata = self.metadata[observatory]['metadata']
         for key in metadata: