diff --git a/src/api/controllers/TermsController.ts b/src/api/controllers/TermsController.ts
index 168dd1a..3de7fb8 100644
--- a/src/api/controllers/TermsController.ts
+++ b/src/api/controllers/TermsController.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { LogService } from "matrix-js-snippets";
 import { ScalarClient } from "../../scalar/ScalarClient";
 import { md5 } from "../../utils/hashing";
 import TermsUpstreamRecord from "../../db/models/TermsUpstreamRecord";
+import { ScalarStore } from "../../db/ScalarStore";
 
 export interface ILanguagePolicy {
     name: string;
@@ -98,6 +99,12 @@ export default class TermsController {
         const upstreamTokens = tokensForUser.filter(t => t.upstream);
         for (const upstreamToken of upstreamTokens) {
             try {
+                const online = await ScalarStore.isUpstreamOnline(upstreamToken.upstream, ScalarClient.KIND_MATRIX_V1);
+                if (!online) {
+                    LogService.warn("TermsController", `Upstream ${upstreamToken.upstream.id} is offline - skipping terms check`);
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 const scalarClient = new ScalarClient(upstreamToken.upstream, ScalarClient.KIND_MATRIX_V1);
                 await scalarClient.getAccount(upstreamToken.scalarToken);
                 // 200 OK means we're fine