diff --git a/lib/aprsme/connection_monitor.ex b/lib/aprsme/connection_monitor.ex
index 487e095..6f9df5e 100644
--- a/lib/aprsme/connection_monitor.ex
+++ b/lib/aprsme/connection_monitor.ex
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ defmodule Aprsme.ConnectionMonitor do
   Get current node statistics
   """
   def get_stats do
-    if cluster_enabled?() do
+    if cluster_enabled?() and Process.whereis(__MODULE__) != nil do
       GenServer.call(__MODULE__, :get_stats)
     else
       %{connections: 0, cpu: 0.0, memory: 0.0}
diff --git a/test/aprsme/connection_monitor_test.exs b/test/aprsme/connection_monitor_test.exs
index f0f4c18..a708f9f 100644
--- a/test/aprsme/connection_monitor_test.exs
+++ b/test/aprsme/connection_monitor_test.exs
@@ -17,6 +17,18 @@ defmodule Aprsme.ConnectionMonitorTest do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "cluster enabled without a running monitor" do
+    test "get_stats/0 returns default stats instead of crashing" do
+      Application.put_env(:aprsme, :cluster_enabled, true)
+
+      on_exit(fn ->
+        Application.put_env(:aprsme, :cluster_enabled, false)
+      end)
+
+      assert ConnectionMonitor.get_stats() == %{connections: 0, cpu: 0.0, memory: 0.0}
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "cluster enabled" do
     setup do
       Application.put_env(:aprsme, :cluster_enabled, true)