diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
index 5ce25b2e..fba38a14 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
@@ -98,6 +98,9 @@ extension MainSplitViewController: UISplitViewControllerDelegate {
     }
     
     func splitViewControllerDidCollapse(_ svc: UISplitViewController) {
+        // on iPhones, the sidebar VC is never loaded, but since this method is still called, we can't do anything
+        guard sidebar.isViewLoaded else { return }
+        
         // Transfer the nav stacks for all the sidebar items that map 1 <-> 1 with tabs
         for tab in [MainTabBarViewController.Tab.timelines, .notifications, .myProfile] {
             let tabNav = tabBarViewController.viewController(for: tab) as! UINavigationController