diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 268d351fe30570bba8a9fc15add25e88d6717b86..7f9c10f9ca4d21ba31fa03b5c3b774a7f7c00774 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     attributes[:loggedin_uid] = current_user.id if user_signed_in?
     attributes[:is_shiftcoordinator] = 1 if current_user&.shiftcoordinator?
     attributes[:languages_from] = current_user.languages_from unless current_user&.languages_from.blank?
-    attributes[:darkmode] = current_user.darkmode
+    attributes[:darkmode] = current_user&.darkmode || "auto"
     { data: attributes }
   end
 end