diff --git a/nw/core/index.py b/nw/core/index.py
index d1bc7449..6ace8988 100644
--- a/nw/core/index.py
+++ b/nw/core/index.py
@@ -611,6 +611,14 @@ class NWIndex():
 
         return theRefs
 
+    def getNovelData(self, tHandle, sTitle):
+        """Return the novel data of a given handle and title.
+        """
+        if tHandle in self.novelIndex:
+            if sTitle in self.novelIndex[tHandle]:
+                return self.novelIndex[tHandle][sTitle]
+        return None
+
     def getBackReferenceList(self, tHandle):
         """Build a list of files referring back to our file, specified
         by tHandle.
diff --git a/nw/gui/outlinedetails.py b/nw/gui/outlinedetails.py
index c4e54f16..5e1d1105 100644
--- a/nw/gui/outlinedetails.py
+++ b/nw/gui/outlinedetails.py
@@ -271,11 +271,10 @@ class GuiOutlineDetails(QScrollArea):
         """Update the content of the tree with the given handle and line
         number pointing to a header.
         """
-        try:
-            nwItem  = self.theProject.projTree[tHandle]
-            novIdx  = self.theIndex.novelIndex[tHandle][sTitle]
-            theRefs = self.theIndex.getReferences(tHandle, sTitle)
-        except Exception:
+        nwItem  = self.theProject.projTree[tHandle]
+        novIdx  = self.theIndex.getNovelData(tHandle, sTitle)
+        theRefs = self.theIndex.getReferences(tHandle, sTitle)
+        if nwItem is None or novIdx is None or theRefs == {}:
             return False
 
         if novIdx["level"] in self.LVL_MAP:
diff --git a/tests/test_core_index.py b/tests/test_core_index.py
index d08cbd49..cbb8ff8b 100644
--- a/tests/test_core_index.py
+++ b/tests/test_core_index.py
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def testCoreIndex_CheckThese(nwMinimal, dummyGUI):
         "@pov: Jane"
     ))
     assert theIndex.tagIndex == {"Jane": [2, cHandle, "CHARACTER", "T000001"]}
-    assert theIndex.novelIndex[nHandle]["T000001"]["title"] == "Hello World!"
+    assert theIndex.getNovelData(nHandle, "T000001")["title"] == "Hello World!"
 
     assert theIndex.novelChangedSince(0)
     assert theIndex.notesChangedSince(0)
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ def testCoreIndex_ScanText(nwMinimal, dummyGUI):
         "Well, not really.\n"
     ))
     assert str(theIndex.tagIndex) == "{'Jane': [2, '%s', 'CHARACTER', 'T000001']}" % cHandle
-    assert theIndex.novelIndex[nHandle]["T000001"]["title"] == "Hello World!"
+    assert theIndex.getNovelData(nHandle, "T000001")["title"] == "Hello World!"
 
     # Check that title sections are indexed properly
     assert theIndex.scanText(nHandle, (
@@ -427,6 +427,9 @@ def testCoreIndex_ExtractData(nwMinimal, dummyGUI):
     nHandle = theProject.newFile("Hello", nwItemClass.NOVEL,     "a508bb932959c")
     cHandle = theProject.newFile("Jane",  nwItemClass.CHARACTER, "afb3043c7b2b3")
 
+    assert theIndex.getNovelData("", "") is None
+    assert theIndex.getNovelData("a508bb932959c", "") is None
+
     assert theIndex.scanText(cHandle, (
         "# Jane Smith\n"
         "@tag: Jane\n"