diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 6e57a76..36025eb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ Added
 -----
 * Dutch translation
 
+Fixed
+-----
+* Then using the LDAP auth backend with ``bind`` method for password check, do not try to bind
+  if the user dn was not found. This was causing the exception
+  ``'NoneType' object has no attribute 'getitem'`` describe in #21
+
 
 v0.8.0 - 2017-03-08
 ===================
diff --git a/cas_server/auth.py b/cas_server/auth.py
index bcdce71..9a0893e 100644
--- a/cas_server/auth.py
+++ b/cas_server/auth.py
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ class LdapAuthUser(DBAuthUser):  # pragma: no cover
                 correct, ``False`` otherwise.
             :rtype: bool
         """
-        if settings.CAS_LDAP_PASSWORD_CHECK == "bind":
+        if self.user and settings.CAS_LDAP_PASSWORD_CHECK == "bind":
             try:
                 conn = ldap3.Connection(
                     settings.CAS_LDAP_SERVER,