diff --git a/include/ircd/m/state.h b/include/ircd/m/state.h
index 0cd502356..f6e3b38a9 100644
--- a/include/ircd/m/state.h
+++ b/include/ircd/m/state.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ namespace ircd::m::state
 	json::array make_key(const mutable_buffer &out, const string_view &type);
 
 	id set_node(db::txn &txn, const mutable_buffer &id, const json::object &node);
+	bool get_node(const std::nothrow_t, const string_view &id, const node_closure &);
 	void get_node(const string_view &id, const node_closure &);
 
 	id remove(db::txn &, const mutable_buffer &rootout, const id &rootin, const json::array &key);
diff --git a/ircd/m/state.cc b/ircd/m/state.cc
index 4c559fca0..ac51f67f3 100644
--- a/ircd/m/state.cc
+++ b/ircd/m/state.cc
@@ -783,10 +783,24 @@ ircd::m::state::_getbuffer(const uint8_t &height)
 void
 ircd::m::state::get_node(const string_view &node_id,
                          const node_closure &closure)
+{
+	if(!get_node(std::nothrow, node_id, closure))
+		throw m::NOT_FOUND
+		{
+			"node_id %s not found",
+			string_view{node_id}
+		};
+}
+
+/// View a node by ID. This makes a DB query and may yield ircd::ctx.
+bool
+ircd::m::state::get_node(const std::nothrow_t,
+                         const string_view &node_id,
+                         const node_closure &closure)
 {
 	assert(bool(dbs::state_node));
 	auto &column{dbs::state_node};
-	column(node_id, closure);
+	return column(node_id, std::nothrow, closure);
 }
 
 /// Writes a node to the db::txn and returns the id of this node (a hash) into