diff --git a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/common/commonTypes.ts b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/common/commonTypes.ts
index ea31c1de80..c5b03ce82f 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/common/commonTypes.ts
+++ b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/common/commonTypes.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { SVG } from '../../diagram-api/types';
+import type { SVG } from '../../diagram-api/types';
 
 export interface RectData {
   x: number;
diff --git a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/sequence/svgDraw.ts b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/sequence/svgDraw.ts
index 6a970bf325..54efc0c0f1 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/sequence/svgDraw.ts
+++ b/packages/mermaid/src/diagrams/sequence/svgDraw.ts
@@ -406,11 +406,13 @@ const drawActorTypeParticipant = async function (
   );
 
   let height = actor.height;
-  const rectNode = rectElem.node();
-  if (rectNode) {
-    const bounds = rectNode.getBBox();
-    actor.height = bounds.height;
-    height = bounds.height;
+  if (rectElem.node && typeof rectElem.node === 'function') {
+    const rectNode = rectElem.node();
+    if (rectNode) {
+      const bounds = rectNode.getBBox();
+      actor.height = bounds.height;
+      height = bounds.height;
+    }
   }
 
   return height;