diff --git a/k4FWCore/components/PodioInput.cpp b/k4FWCore/components/PodioInput.cpp
index 2d336ae6..949a9053 100644
--- a/k4FWCore/components/PodioInput.cpp
+++ b/k4FWCore/components/PodioInput.cpp
@@ -193,8 +193,12 @@ void PodioInput::operator()() const {
     info() << "No EventHeader collection found in the event. Not reading it" << endmsg;
   }
 
-  for (auto& collName : m_collectionNames) {
+  for (const auto& collName : m_collectionNames) {
     debug() << "Registering collection to read " << collName << endmsg;
+    if (!m_podioDataSvc->hasCollection(collName)) {
+      warning() << "Collection " << collName << " is not available from file." << endmsg;
+      continue;
+    }
     auto type = m_podioDataSvc->getCollectionType(collName);
     if (m_readers.find(type) != m_readers.end()) {
       m_readers[type](collName);
diff --git a/k4FWCore/src/PodioDataSvc.cpp b/k4FWCore/src/PodioDataSvc.cpp
index 956ab2da..c93f7f04 100644
--- a/k4FWCore/src/PodioDataSvc.cpp
+++ b/k4FWCore/src/PodioDataSvc.cpp
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ const std::string_view PodioDataSvc::getCollectionType(const std::string& collNa
   const auto coll = m_eventframe.get(collName);
   if (coll == nullptr) {
     error() << "Collection " << collName << " does not exist." << endmsg;
+    return "";
   }
   return coll->getTypeName();
 }