diff --git a/tensorflow/core/distributed_runtime/rpc/eager/grpc_eager_client.cc b/tensorflow/core/distributed_runtime/rpc/eager/grpc_eager_client.cc
index 4a8e19dddf7..4e89e302978 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/distributed_runtime/rpc/eager/grpc_eager_client.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/distributed_runtime/rpc/eager/grpc_eager_client.cc
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ class GrpcEagerClientCache : public EagerClientCache {
     if (it == clients_.end()) {
       tensorflow::SharedGrpcChannelPtr shared =
           cache_->FindWorkerChannel(target);
+      if (shared == nullptr) {
+        return errors::InvalidArgument("Client for target ", target,
+                                       " not found.");
+      }
       auto worker = std::unique_ptr<EagerClient>(new GrpcEagerClient(
           shared, threads_[AssignClientToThread(target)].completion_queue()));