diff --git a/src/extraction/core/functions/defaults.py b/src/extraction/core/functions/defaults.py
index 5d57dc626317f3c2b7a3842ff97bec3d69be868a..847986807b62bf52f308110497e62c169801d6b4 100644
--- a/src/extraction/core/functions/defaults.py
+++ b/src/extraction/core/functions/defaults.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def exparams_from_meta(
     extant_fluorescence_ch = []
     for av_channel in candidate_channels:
         # Find channels in metadata whose names match
-        found_channel = find_channel_name(meta["channels"], av_channel)
+        found_channel = find_channel_name(meta.get("channels", []), av_channel)
         if found_channel is not None:
             extant_fluorescence_ch.append(found_channel)