diff --git a/server/routes/termdb.violin.ts b/server/routes/termdb.violin.ts
index b9ad225d90..5e25e39516 100644
--- a/server/routes/termdb.violin.ts
+++ b/server/routes/termdb.violin.ts
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export async function trigger_getViolinPlotData(
 	const sampleType = `All ${data.sampleType?.plural_name || 'samples'}`
 	if (data.error) throw data.error
 	//get ordered labels to sort keys in key2values
-	if (q.divideTw.$id && data.refs.byTermId[q.divideTw.$id]) {
+	if (q.divideTw && data.refs.byTermId[q.divideTw.$id]) {
 		data.refs.byTermId[q.divideTw.$id].orderedLabels = getOrderedLabels(
 			q.divideTw,
 			data.refs.byTermId[q.divideTw.$id]?.bins,