diff --git a/frigate/app.py b/frigate/app.py
index 65272f2be..3c430f7d3 100644
--- a/frigate/app.py
+++ b/frigate/app.py
@@ -279,6 +279,8 @@ class FrigateApp:
         if self.config.semantic_search.enabled:
             # Create a client for other processes to use
             self.embeddings = EmbeddingsContext(self.db)
+        else:
+            self.embeddings = None
 
     def init_external_event_processor(self) -> None:
         self.external_event_processor = ExternalEventProcessor(self.config)