diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/cardUtilityFunctions.test.jsx b/src/utils/__tests__/cardUtilityFunctions.test.jsx
index bcce79b037..6b95215691 100644
--- a/src/utils/__tests__/cardUtilityFunctions.test.jsx
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/cardUtilityFunctions.test.jsx
@@ -983,6 +983,50 @@ describe('cardUtilityFunctions', () => {
       'unit',
     ]);
   });
+  it('getCardVariables does not blow up on null or react symbols', () => {
+    const timeSeriesCardWithVariables = {
+      id: 'air_flow_mean',
+      size: 'LARGE',
+      title: 'Air flow {deviceId} mean vs max',
+      type: 'TIMESERIES',
+      content: {
+        series: [
+          {
+            dataSourceId: 'airflow_max',
+            label: '{airflow_max}',
+          },
+        ],
+        xLabel: '{x_axis}',
+        yLabel: '{y_axis}',
+        unit: '{unit}',
+        timeDataSourceId: 'timestamp',
+      },
+      dataSource: {
+        attributes: [
+          {
+            aggregator: 'max',
+            attribute: 'air_flow_rate',
+            id: 'airflow_max',
+          },
+        ],
+        range: {
+          type: 'periodToDate',
+          count: -7,
+          interval: 'day',
+        },
+        timeGrain: 'day',
+      },
+      someNullProperty: null,
+      someReactSymbolProperty: <p>Hi I am a React symbol</p>,
+    };
+    expect(getCardVariables(timeSeriesCardWithVariables)).toEqual([
+      'deviceId',
+      'airflow_max',
+      'x_axis',
+      'y_axis',
+      'unit',
+    ]);
+  });
   it('getCardVariables returns empty array when no variables are given', () => {
     const imageCard = {
       content: {
diff --git a/src/utils/cardUtilityFunctions.js b/src/utils/cardUtilityFunctions.js
index 702682e2e4..41668948e0 100644
--- a/src/utils/cardUtilityFunctions.js
+++ b/src/utils/cardUtilityFunctions.js
@@ -254,13 +254,12 @@ export const replaceVariables = (variables, cardVariables, target) => {
 };
 
 /**
- * @param {Object} card
+ * @param {Object} cardProperty
  * @returns {Array<String>} an array of unique variable values
  */
-export const getCardVariables = card => {
-  // for each
-  const propertyVariables = Object.values(card).reduce((acc, property) => {
-    if (typeof property === 'object' && !React.isValidElement(property)) {
+export const getCardVariables = cardProperty => {
+  const propertyVariables = Object.values(cardProperty).reduce((acc, property) => {
+    if (typeof property === 'object' && !React.isValidElement(property) && !isNil(property)) {
       // recursively search any objects for additional string properties
       acc.push(...getCardVariables(property));
     } else if (typeof property === 'string') {