diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Factory.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Factory.php
index da3feb7ebbf79205f712158f6100cfc0b7de8727..a26ca28428ae6bd936908f50dc1f1810fe779dfe 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Factory.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Factory.php
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ class Factory
             // here may interfere with UI rendering. If we ignore it now, it will
             // still get handled appropriately later in processing.
             error_log($e->getMessage());
+            $catalog = null; // avoid unset variable notice
         }
 
         // Load remaining dependencies: