diff --git a/gen_stats b/gen_stats
index eda2ceb..74a699a 100755
--- a/gen_stats
+++ b/gen_stats
@@ -38,10 +38,12 @@ out["channels"] = []
 for c in root.findall("./channellist/channel"):
     name = unsanitize(c.find("channelname"))
 
+    modes = c.find("./channelmodes").text
     if (
         # skip channels in the blacklist or with mode +s
-        "s" in c.find("./channelmodes").text.split()[0]
-        or name in BLACKLIST
+        name in BLACKLIST
+        or modes is None
+        or "s" in modes.split()[0]
     ):
         continue
 
@@ -54,7 +56,6 @@ for c in root.findall("./channellist/channel"):
         )
     )
 
-
 out["channels"].sort(key=lambda x: x["name"].lower())
 
 with open(f"{WORK_DIR}/stats.json", "w") as f: