diff --git a/lib/ajax/section_classes.js b/lib/ajax/section_classes.js
index 6b76cd3f375..7694491820b 100755
--- a/lib/ajax/section_classes.js
+++ b/lib/ajax/section_classes.js
@@ -380,21 +380,21 @@ section_class.prototype.remove_resource = function(el) {
             }
         }
     }
-    // Remove any extra text nodes to keep DOM clean.
-	var kids = el.getEl().parentNode.childNodes;
-	var i = kids.length;
-	while (i--) {
-		if (kids[i].nodeType == 3) {
-	    	kids[i].parentNode.removeChild(kids[i]);
-	    }
-	}
-
-    YAHOO.log("Removing "+el.getEl().id);
-    if (el.getEl().parentNode != null) {
-        el.getEl().parentNode.removeChild(el.getEl());
-	}
+    if (el.getEl().parentNode) {
+        // Remove any extra text nodes to keep DOM clean.
+	    var kids = el.getEl().parentNode.childNodes;
+    	var i = kids.length;
+    	while (i--) {
+    		if (kids[i].nodeType == 3) {
+    	    	kids[i].parentNode.removeChild(kids[i]);
+    	    }
+    	}
+        // Remove the resource.
+    	YAHOO.log("Removing "+el.getEl().id);
+    	el.getEl().parentNode.removeChild(el.getEl());
+    }
     this.write_sequence_list();
-}   
+}
 
 
 section_class.prototype.insert_resource = function(el, targetel) {