diff --git a/pkg/morph/client/notary.go b/pkg/morph/client/notary.go
index 46d2c252..af70a210 100644
--- a/pkg/morph/client/notary.go
+++ b/pkg/morph/client/notary.go
@@ -875,6 +875,10 @@ func (c *Client) CalculateNonceAndVUB(hash util.Uint256) (nonce uint32, vub uint
 		})
 	}
 
+	if c.notary == nil {
+		return 0, 0, nil
+	}
+
 	// TODO: cache values since some operations uses same TX as triggers
 	nonce = binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(hash.BytesLE())