diff --git a/src/node.py b/src/node.py
index 5c8ada32..bb50296b 100644
--- a/src/node.py
+++ b/src/node.py
@@ -954,6 +954,12 @@ def status(self):
         return x.node_status
 
     def _get_node_state(self) -> utils.PostgresNodeState:
+        if self._base_dir is None:
+            return utils.PostgresNodeState(
+                node_status=NodeStatus.Uninitialized,
+                pid=None,
+            )
+
         return utils.get_pg_node_state(
             self._os_ops,
             self.bin_dir,