diff --git a/client/scripts/isometric_follow_camera.gd b/client/scripts/isometric_follow_camera.gd
index 3760af8..be9f128 100644
--- a/client/scripts/isometric_follow_camera.gd
+++ b/client/scripts/isometric_follow_camera.gd
@@ -227,8 +227,11 @@ static func occlusion_policy_is_valid(policy: Resource) -> bool:
 
 ## True if [param body] is a live [Node3D] suitable as an [member _occluder_overrides] key.
 ## Used before occlusion ray work and from tests (NEON-28).
+## [code]is_instance_valid[/code] first: [code]is Node3D[/code] on a freed reference errors at runtime.
 static func occluder_override_key_is_valid(body: Variant) -> bool:
-	return body is Node3D and is_instance_valid(body)
+	if not is_instance_valid(body):
+		return false
+	return body is Node3D
 
 
 func _restore_occluder_overrides_list(overrides: Array) -> void: