diff --git a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
index 174fb49a..91726e44 100644
--- a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
+++ b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ async def _async_get_routes(self) -> List[Tuple]:
                 data.get("sr_utterance", ""),
                 (
                     json.loads(data["sr_function_schema"])
-                    if data["sr_function_schema"]
+                    if data.get("sr_function_schema", "")
                     else {}
                 ),
                 {