diff --git a/wcs/qommon/publisher.py b/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
index 3ca5beebe..688477faf 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ class QommonPublisher(Publisher):
     missing_appdir_redirect = None
     use_sms_feature = True
     app_translations = dict()
+    statsd = None
 
     def get_root_url(self):
         if self.get_request():
@@ -250,7 +251,8 @@ class QommonPublisher(Publisher):
         original_response = request.response
         request.response = HTTPResponse()
 
-        self.statsd.increment('failed-request')
+        if self.statsd: # maybe unset if very early failure
+            self.statsd.increment('failed-request')
 
         (exc_type, exc_value, tb) = sys.exc_info()