diff --git a/planetstack/core/models/plcorebase.py b/planetstack/core/models/plcorebase.py
index 8c5bddc..7251a81 100644
--- a/planetstack/core/models/plcorebase.py
+++ b/planetstack/core/models/plcorebase.py
@@ -3,8 +3,18 @@
 from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
-# This is a no-op if observer_disabled is set to 1 in the config file
-from observer import *
+
+try:
+    # This is a no-op if observer_disabled is set to 1 in the config file
+    from observer import *
+except:
+    print "import of observer failed! printing traceback and disabling observer:"
+    import traceback
+    traceback.print_exc()
+
+    # guard against something failing
+    def notify_observer():
+        pass
 
 class PlCoreBase(models.Model):