diff --git a/web_python/ray/web.py b/web_python/ray/web.py
index 6718079..92e4681 100644
--- a/web_python/ray/web.py
+++ b/web_python/ray/web.py
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ def exec_work(work_blob):
 
 def decode_json_args(task):
     out = []
+    if "args" not in task:
+        return []
     for arg in task["args"]:
         if "local" in arg and arg["local"] == webpb.Locality.REFERENCE.value:
             getresp = get(b64loads(arg["reference_id"]))