diff --git a/code/datums/crew_manifest.dm b/code/datums/crew_manifest.dm
index af559ca56475..f632521916ca 100644
--- a/code/datums/crew_manifest.dm
+++ b/code/datums/crew_manifest.dm
@@ -70,12 +70,8 @@ GLOBAL_DATUM_INIT(crew_manifest, /datum/crew_manifest, new)
 				break
 
 		if(entry_dept)
-			if(!data[entry_dept])
-				data[entry_dept] = list()
 			LAZYADD(data[entry_dept], list(entry))
 		else
-			if(!data["Miscellaneous"])
-				data["Miscellaneous"] = list()
 			LAZYADD(data["Miscellaneous"], list(entry))
 
 	return data