diff --git a/js/jquery.tablesorter.js b/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
index e399f152..15105b7e 100644
--- a/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
+++ b/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@
 				return this.each(function() {
 					// if no thead or tbody, or tablesorter is already present, quit
 					if (!this.tHead || this.tBodies.length === 0 || this.hasInitialized === true) {
-						return (this.config.debug) ? log('stopping initialization! No thead, tbody or tablesorter has already been initialized') : '';
+						return (this.config && this.config.debug) ? log('stopping initialization! No thead, tbody or tablesorter has already been initialized') : '';
 					}
 					// declare
 					var $cell, $this = $(this), $t0 = this,
@@ -1389,4 +1389,4 @@
 		}
 	});
 
-})(jQuery);
\ No newline at end of file
+})(jQuery);