diff --git a/dcicutils/portal_object_utils.py b/dcicutils/portal_object_utils.py
index 7e48ce69f..c21315e00 100644
--- a/dcicutils/portal_object_utils.py
+++ b/dcicutils/portal_object_utils.py
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ def _normalize_data_refs(value: Any, refs: List[dict], schema: dict,
                 # so let us look it up here.
                 if isinstance(portal, Portal):
                     nlookups += 1
-                    if (ref_object := portal.get_metadata(ref_path)) and (ref_uuid := ref_object.get("uuid")):
+                    if ((ref_object := portal.get_metadata(ref_path, raise_exception=False)) and
+                        (ref_uuid := ref_object.get("uuid"))):
                         return ref_uuid, nlookups
         return value, nlookups