diff --git a/packages/person-select/src/vpu-person-select.js b/packages/person-select/src/vpu-person-select.js
index d4c29dcc12fd8afba3fc81f7034ed589f28a34d8..417f442842dffb51740c61ecedae2d18ddb27967 100644
--- a/packages/person-select/src/vpu-person-select.js
+++ b/packages/person-select/src/vpu-person-select.js
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class PersonSelect extends VPULitElementJQuery {
             "text": "http://schema.org/name"
         };
 
-        if (this.$select.hasClass('select2-hidden-accessible')) {
+        if (this.$select && this.$select.hasClass('select2-hidden-accessible')) {
             this.$select.select2('destroy');
         }