diff --git a/python/lsst/summit/utils/blockUtils.py b/python/lsst/summit/utils/blockUtils.py
index a7d75616..207eb4f8 100644
--- a/python/lsst/summit/utils/blockUtils.py
+++ b/python/lsst/summit/utils/blockUtils.py
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ def augmentDataSlow(self):
         data['blockDayObs'] = pd.Series()
         data['blockSeqNum'] = pd.Series()
 
+        if 'lastCheckpoint' not in self.data.columns:
+            nRows = len(self.data)
+            self.log.warning(f"Found {nRows} rows of data and no 'lastCheckpoint' column was in the data,"
+                             " so block data cannot be parsed.")
+
         for index, row in data.iterrows():
             rowStr = row['lastCheckpoint']
 
@@ -236,6 +241,17 @@ def augmentData(self):
         but is also much harder to maintain/debug, as the vectorized regexes
         are hard to work with, and to know which row is causing problems.
         """
+        if 'lastCheckpoint' not in self.data.columns:
+            nRows = len(self.data)
+            self.log.warning(f"Found {nRows} rows of data and no 'lastCheckpoint' column was in the data,"
+                             " so block data cannot be parsed.")
+            # add the columns that would have been added for consistency
+            self.data['blockNum'] = pd.Series()
+            self.data['blockId'] = pd.Series()
+            self.data['blockDayObs'] = pd.Series()
+            self.data['blockSeqNum'] = pd.Series()
+            return
+
         data = self.data
         blockPattern = r"BLOCK-(\d+)"
         blockIdPattern = r"(BL\d+(?:_\w+)+)"
diff --git a/python/lsst/summit/utils/tmaUtils.py b/python/lsst/summit/utils/tmaUtils.py
index f05ef531..742d2e08 100644
--- a/python/lsst/summit/utils/tmaUtils.py
+++ b/python/lsst/summit/utils/tmaUtils.py
@@ -1318,7 +1318,15 @@ def addBlockDataToEvents(self, dayObs, events):
                  `list` of `lsst.summit.utils.tmaUtils.TMAEvent`
             One or more events to get the block data for.
         """
-        blockParser = BlockParser(dayObs, client=self.client)
+        try:
+            blockParser = BlockParser(dayObs, client=self.client)
+        except Exception as e:
+            # adding the block data should never cause a failure so if we can't
+            # get the block data, log a warning and return. It is, however,
+            # never expected, so use log.exception to get the full traceback
+            # and scare users so it gets reported
+            self.log.exception(f'Failed to parse block data for {dayObs=}, {e}')
+            return
         blocks = blockParser.getBlockNums()
         blockDict = {}
         for block in blocks: