diff --git a/lib/pyld/jsonld.py b/lib/pyld/jsonld.py
index ae27b9cc..019a257c 100755
--- a/lib/pyld/jsonld.py
+++ b/lib/pyld/jsonld.py
@@ -1614,7 +1614,7 @@ def to_nquad(triple, graph_name=None):
                 .replace('\"', '\\"'))
             quad += '"' + escaped + '"'
             if o['datatype'] == RDF_LANGSTRING:
-                if o['language']:
+                if o.get('language'):
                     quad += '@' + o['language']
             elif o['datatype'] != XSD_STRING:
                 quad += '^^<' + o['datatype'] + '>'