diff --git a/lib/upload_security.rb b/lib/upload_security.rb
index 039b03d158b..86647892372 100644
--- a/lib/upload_security.rb
+++ b/lib/upload_security.rb
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ class UploadSecurity
   # if there is no access control post id and the upload is currently secure, we
   # do not want to make it un-secure to avoid unintentionally exposing it
   def access_control_post_has_secure_media?
+    # if the post is deleted the access_control_post will be blank...
+    # TODO: deal with this in a better way
+    return false if @upload.access_control_post.blank?
     @upload.access_control_post.with_secure_media?
   end