diff --git a/include/yaml_cpp_struct.hpp b/include/yaml_cpp_struct.hpp
index e184024..58a96ed 100644
--- a/include/yaml_cpp_struct.hpp
+++ b/include/yaml_cpp_struct.hpp
@@ -306,7 +306,8 @@ struct convert<std::variant<T...>> {
 				using ToType = std::remove_reference_t<std::decay_t<decltype(value)>>; \
 				if constexpr (yaml_cpp_struct::is_optional<ToType>()) {                \
 					try {                                                              \
-						value = yaml_cpp_struct::node_as<ToType>(node[name]);          \
+						if (node[name])                                                \
+							value = yaml_cpp_struct::node_as<ToType>(node[name]);      \
 					} catch (const std::runtime_error&) {                              \
 					}                                                                  \
 				}                                                                      \
@@ -339,7 +340,8 @@ struct convert<std::variant<T...>> {
 			visit_struct::for_each(rhs, [&](const char* name, auto& value) {           \
 				using ToType = std::remove_reference_t<std::decay_t<decltype(value)>>; \
 				try {                                                                  \
-					value = yaml_cpp_struct::node_as<ToType>(node[name]);              \
+					if (node[name])                                                    \
+						value = yaml_cpp_struct::node_as<ToType>(node[name]);          \
 				} catch (const std::runtime_error&) {                                  \
 				}                                                                      \
 			});                                                                        \