diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 72cf4edc..344fd29f 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -89,17 +89,21 @@ if (
 /**
  * Persistent (stay logged in)
  */
-if (isset($_COOKIE[COOKIE_PERSISTENT])) {
-    $persistent = $database
-    ->query(
-        'SELECT *
-           FROM `sessions`
-          WHERE `session` = "' . $_COOKIE[COOKIE_PERSISTENT] . '";'
-    )
-    ->fetch();
+if (isset($_COOKIE[COOKIE_PERSISTENT]) && $database) {
+    $table_sessions_exists = $database->tableExists('sessions');
 
-    if (false !== $persistent) {
-        $_SESSION['user'] = User::getFromID($persistent['user']);
+    if ($table_sessions_exists) {
+        $persistent = $database
+        ->query(
+            'SELECT *
+               FROM `sessions`
+              WHERE `session` = "' . $_COOKIE[COOKIE_PERSISTENT] . '";'
+        )
+        ->fetch();
+
+        if (false !== $persistent) {
+            $_SESSION['user'] = User::getFromID($persistent['user']);
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/classes/database.php b/src/classes/database.php
index 6ec76ba0..f3ff09a9 100644
--- a/src/classes/database.php
+++ b/src/classes/database.php
@@ -50,4 +50,25 @@ class Database
     {
         return $this->lastInsertId;
     }
+
+    public function tableExists(string $table_to_check): bool
+    {
+        $tables = $this
+        ->query('SHOW TABLES;')
+        ->fetchAll();
+
+        if (!is_iterable($tables)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        foreach ($tables as $table_kv) {
+            $table = reset($table_kv);
+
+            if ($table === $table_to_check) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
 }