diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layFillDialog.cc b/src/lay/lay/layFillDialog.cc
index 4d59325ca..88be20f6f 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layFillDialog.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layFillDialog.cc
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ FillDialog::get_fill_parameters ()
 
     //  visible layers
     for (lay::LayerPropertiesConstIterator l = mp_view->begin_layers (); ! l.at_end (); ++l) {
-      if (! l->has_children () && l->visible (true)) {
+      if (! l->has_children () && l->visible (true) && cv->layout ().is_valid_layer (l->layer_index ())) {
         fp.exclude_layers.push_back (cv->layout ().get_properties (l->layer_index ()));
       }
     }
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ FillDialog::get_fill_parameters ()
     //  selected layers
     std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesConstIterator> s = mp_view->selected_layers ();
     for (std::vector<lay::LayerPropertiesConstIterator>::const_iterator l = s.begin (); l != s.end (); ++l) {
-      if (! (*l)->has_children ()) {
+      if (! (*l)->has_children () && cv->layout ().is_valid_layer ((*l)->layer_index ())) {
         fp.exclude_layers.push_back (cv->layout ().get_properties ((*l)->layer_index ()));
       }
     }