diff --git a/code/datums/progressbar.dm b/code/datums/progressbar.dm
index a8fad8ac337..d4ff4496ac4 100644
--- a/code/datums/progressbar.dm
+++ b/code/datums/progressbar.dm
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@
 /datum/progressbar/New(mob/User, goal_number, atom/target)
 	. = ..()
 	if (!istype(target))
-		EXCEPTION("Invalid target given")
+		stack_trace("Invalid target [target] passed in")
+		qdel(src)
+		return
 	if(QDELETED(User) || !istype(User))
 		stack_trace("/datum/progressbar created with [isnull(User) ? "null" : "invalid"] user")
 		qdel(src)