diff --git a/pydal/objects.py b/pydal/objects.py
index bd54d06a8..f0d896a86 100644
--- a/pydal/objects.py
+++ b/pydal/objects.py
@@ -2943,7 +2943,7 @@ def render(self, i=None, fields=None):
 
     def __getstate__(self):
         ret = self.__dict__.copy()
-        del ret['fields']
+        ret.pop('fields', None)
         return ret
 
     def _restore_fields(self, fields):