diff --git a/src/pytti/ImageGuide.py b/src/pytti/ImageGuide.py
index 7bd10d1..5aff2b9 100644
--- a/src/pytti/ImageGuide.py
+++ b/src/pytti/ImageGuide.py
@@ -366,8 +366,11 @@ def report_out(
             if model.dataframe:
                 rec = model.dataframe[0].iloc[-1]
                 logger.debug(rec)
-                for k, v in rec.iteritems():
-                    writer.add_scalar(tag=f"losses/{k}", scalar_value=v, global_step=i)
+                if writer is not None:
+                    for k, v in rec.iteritems():
+                        writer.add_scalar(
+                            tag=f"losses/{k}", scalar_value=v, global_step=i
+                        )
 
             # does this VRAM stuff even do anything?
             if approximate_vram_usage:
@@ -420,13 +423,14 @@ def save_out(
             im.save(filename)
 
             im_np = np.array(im)
-            writer.add_image(
-                tag="pytti output",
-                # img_tensor=filename, # thought this would work?
-                img_tensor=im_np,
-                global_step=i,
-                dataformats="HWC",  # this was the key
-            )
+            if writer is not None:
+                writer.add_image(
+                    tag="pytti output",
+                    # img_tensor=filename, # thought this would work?
+                    img_tensor=im_np,
+                    global_step=i,
+                    dataformats="HWC",  # this was the key
+                )
 
             if backups > 0:
                 filename = f"backup/{file_namespace}/{base_name}_{n}.bak"
diff --git a/tests/config/default.yaml b/tests/config/default.yaml
index fcfdbf6..79f9e4d 100644
--- a/tests/config/default.yaml
+++ b/tests/config/default.yaml
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ save_every: 50
 backups: 5
 show_graphs: false
 approximate_vram_usage: false
+use_tensorboard: false
 
 #####################################
 
diff --git a/tests/test_animation_broken.py b/tests/test_animation_broken.py
index 349227e..0bfbbec 100644
--- a/tests/test_animation_broken.py
+++ b/tests/test_animation_broken.py
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@
     "gradient_accumulation_steps": 1,
     "border_mode": "clamp",
     "models_parent_dir": ".",
+    ##########################
+    # adding new config items for backwards compatibility
+    "use_tensorboard": True,  # This should actually default to False. Prior to April2022, tb was non-optional
 }