diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
index e9f0f907..5e57b66a 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ class UserSpawnHandler(BaseHandler):
             admin_spawn = False
             # For non-admins, we should spawn if the user matches
             # otherwise redirect users to their own server
-            should_spawn = (current_user.name == name)
+            should_spawn = (current_user and current_user.name == name)
 
 
         if should_spawn: