diff --git a/stream_alert/parsers.py b/stream_alert/parsers.py
index f57eb0bd1..6700ecbb6 100644
--- a/stream_alert/parsers.py
+++ b/stream_alert/parsers.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def parse(self):
             - False if the data is not CSV or the columns do not match.
         """
         schema = self.schema
-        hints = self.options['hints']
+        hints = self.options.get('hints')
 
         hint_result = []
         csv_payloads = []