--- a/frontend/js/bespin/bespin.js
+++ b/frontend/js/bespin/bespin.js
@@ -58,17 +58,17 @@ dojo.mixin(bespin, {
     /** Holds the timeouts so they can be cleared later */
     _lazySubscriptionTimeout: {},
 
     /**
      * Given a topic and a set of parameters, publish onto the bus.
      * maps onto dojo.publish but lets us abstract away for the future
      */
     publish: function(topic, args) {
-        if (window.globalStorage && window.globalStorage[location.hostname].debug) {
+        if (window.globalStorage && window.globalStorage[location.hostname] && window.globalStorage[location.hostname].debug) {
             console.log("Publish", topic, args);
         }
 
         bespin._eventLog[topic] = true;
         dojo.publish("bespin:" + topic, dojo.isArray(args) ? args : [ args || {} ]);
     },
 
     /**