diff --git a/daemon/image_delete.go b/daemon/image_delete.go
index 332db7b4c0..b0b0c3a023 100644
--- a/daemon/image_delete.go
+++ b/daemon/image_delete.go
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) canDeleteImage(imgID string, force bool) error {
 	for _, container := range daemon.List() {
 		parent, err := daemon.Repositories().LookupImage(container.Image)
 		if err != nil {
+			if daemon.Graph().IsNotExist(err) {
+				return nil
+			}
 			return err
 		}