diff --git a/C4/Reserves.pm b/C4/Reserves.pm
index a821577af5..cd1c62bb35 100644
--- a/C4/Reserves.pm
+++ b/C4/Reserves.pm
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@ sub IsAvailableForItemLevelRequest {
     # FIXME - a lot of places in the code do this
     #         or something similar - need to be
     #         consolidated
-    my $itemtype = $item->effective_itemtype;
+    my $itemtype = $item->effective_itemtype or return 0;
     my $notforloan_per_itemtype = Koha::ItemTypes->find($itemtype)->notforloan;
 
     return 0 if