diff --git a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
index 88b6b01f1..0b68be31e 100644
--- a/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
+++ b/contrib/babel/lisp/org-babel.el
@@ -494,7 +494,9 @@ may be specified in the properties of the current outline entry."
     (delq nil
           (mapcar
            (lambda (header-arg)
-             (let ((val (or (org-entry-get (point) header-arg 'selective)
+             (let ((val (or (condition-case nil
+                                (org-entry-get (point) header-arg 'selective)
+                              (error nil))
 			    (cdr (assoc header-arg org-file-properties)))))
                (when val
                  ;; (message "param-from-property %s=%s" header-arg val) ;; debugging statement