diff --git a/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup/Data/Binding.cs b/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup/Data/Binding.cs
index 589f223e23..50288d758e 100644
--- a/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup/Data/Binding.cs
+++ b/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup/Data/Binding.cs
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ namespace Avalonia.Data
             
             enableDataValidation = enableDataValidation && Priority == BindingPriority.LocalValue;
 
-            NameScope.TryGetTarget(out var nameScope);
+            INameScope nameScope;
+            NameScope?.TryGetTarget(out nameScope);
 
             var (node, mode) = ExpressionObserverBuilder.Parse(Path, enableDataValidation, TypeResolver, nameScope);