diff --git a/code/FBXMeshGeometry.cpp b/code/FBXMeshGeometry.cpp
index cc1a5a83e..8bfd60570 100644
--- a/code/FBXMeshGeometry.cpp
+++ b/code/FBXMeshGeometry.cpp
@@ -437,6 +437,9 @@ void ResolveVertexDataArray(std::vector<T>& data_out, const Scope& source,
     // deal with this more elegantly and with less redundancy, but right
     // now it seems unavoidable.
     if (MappingInformationType == "ByVertice" && isDirect) {
+        if (!HasElement(source, indexDataElementName)) {
+            return;
+        }
         std::vector<T> tempData;
 		ParseVectorDataArray(tempData, GetRequiredElement(source, dataElementName));