diff --git a/app/models/notification.rb b/app/models/notification.rb
index c0a99f68..78a54b5b 100644
--- a/app/models/notification.rb
+++ b/app/models/notification.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class Notification < ApplicationRecord
     end
 
     def denotify(recipient, target)
+      return nil if recipient.blank?
       return nil unless target.respond_to? :notification_type
 
       notif_type = target.notification_type