diff --git a/CHANGELOG-unreleased.md b/CHANGELOG-unreleased.md
index e9d4efdb4..db53e6aa0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG-unreleased.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG-unreleased.md
@@ -28,4 +28,5 @@ the released changes.
 - Fixed `gridutils` behavior for 1 CPU
 - Fixed bug in `GaussianRV_gen`, where the probability distribution function was not normalized correctly. Changed to use `scipy.stats.truncnorm` instead of the custom `GaussianRV_gen`.
 - Fixed bug in printing of parameter correlation/covariance matrices
+- `make_fake_toas_fromMJDs` now does not assume `PLANET_SHAPIRO` is in the model - it checks.
 ### Removed
diff --git a/src/pint/simulation.py b/src/pint/simulation.py
index 97de3d3e1..2123bf2c2 100644
--- a/src/pint/simulation.py
+++ b/src/pint/simulation.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-"""Functions related to simulating TOAs and models
-"""
+"""Functions related to simulating TOAs and models"""
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from copy import deepcopy
@@ -454,7 +453,7 @@ def make_fake_toas_fromMJDs(
         ephem=model["EPHEM"].value,
         include_bipm=clk_version["include_bipm"],
         bipm_version=clk_version["bipm_version"],
-        planets=model["PLANET_SHAPIRO"].value,
+        planets=model["PLANET_SHAPIRO"].value if "PLANET_SHAPIRO" in model else False,
         flags=flags,
     )