diff --git a/src/sbbs3/getkey.cpp b/src/sbbs3/getkey.cpp
index f1e0fdaff6dd6748c78d3ec785ba9226d8d6bcdb..9ee719bbcb76fde4ed8975658f8b96b80083e36a 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/getkey.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/getkey.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ char sbbs_t::getkey(long mode)
 {
 	char ch,coldkey,c=0,spin=sbbs_random(5);
 
-	if(!online)
+	if(!online || !input_thread_running)
 		return(0);
 	sys_status&=~SS_ABORT;
 	if((sys_status&SS_USERON || action==NODE_DFLT) && !(mode&K_GETSTR))