diff --git a/buildstream/_loader/loadelement.py b/buildstream/_loader/loadelement.py
index 4104dfd5951e7dce5dda0e57a69340110b462fc5..b22f9024681436a2408b6750857afbb4e0ddcb26 100644
--- a/buildstream/_loader/loadelement.py
+++ b/buildstream/_loader/loadelement.py
@@ -185,6 +185,6 @@ def _extract_depends_from_node(node, *, key=None):
         output_deps.append(dependency)
 
     # Now delete the field, we dont want it anymore
-    del node[key]
+    node.pop(key, None)
 
     return output_deps