diff --git a/doc/changes/devel/13097.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/devel/13097.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..02500b91027
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/changes/devel/13097.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix bug when loading certain EEGLAB files that do not contain a ``nodatchans`` field, by `Clemens Brunner`_.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mne/io/eeglab/eeglab.py b/mne/io/eeglab/eeglab.py
index 3aa611b4e28..10e23b811a0 100644
--- a/mne/io/eeglab/eeglab.py
+++ b/mne/io/eeglab/eeglab.py
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ def _get_montage_information(eeg, get_pos, *, montage_units):
         )
 
     lpa, rpa, nasion = None, None, None
-    if hasattr(eeg, "chaninfo") and isinstance(eeg.chaninfo["nodatchans"], dict):
+    if hasattr(eeg, "chaninfo") and isinstance(eeg.chaninfo.get("nodatchans"), dict):
         nodatchans = eeg.chaninfo["nodatchans"]
         types = nodatchans.get("type", [])
         descriptions = nodatchans.get("description", [])