diff --git a/ivas_processing_scripts/__init__.py b/ivas_processing_scripts/__init__.py
index b4d9c07b48b99b8316769c2f4d122660ba36bbc5..a16309e0cc2d69df9e69e6ec6b4192637579e0ef 100755
--- a/ivas_processing_scripts/__init__.py
+++ b/ivas_processing_scripts/__init__.py
@@ -137,7 +137,11 @@ def main(args):
             # save process info to revert it later
             cfg.pre2 = cfg.proc_chains[0]["processes"][0]
             # preprocess background noise
-            if hasattr(cfg, "preprocessing") and hasattr(cfg.pre2, "background_noise"):
+            if (
+                hasattr(cfg, "preprocessing")
+                and hasattr(cfg.pre2, "background_noise")
+                and cfg.pre2.background_noise is not None
+            ):
                 preprocess_background_noise(cfg)
             # preprocess 2
             preprocess_2(cfg, logger)