diff --git a/src/calibre/db/backend.py b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
index 4efa5a18f3..f1a8a38974 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/backend.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
@@ -969,7 +969,8 @@ class DB:
         return self.fts.queue_job(book_id, fmt, path, fmt_size, fmt_hash)
 
     def commit_fts_result(self, book_id, fmt, fmt_size, fmt_hash, text, err_msg):
-        return self.fts.commit_result(book_id, fmt, fmt_size, fmt_hash, text, err_msg)
+        if self.fts is not None:
+            return self.fts.commit_result(book_id, fmt, fmt_size, fmt_hash, text, err_msg)
 
     def fts_search(self,
         fts_engine_query, use_stemming, highlight_start, highlight_end, snippet_size, restrict_to_book_ids,