diff --git a/__pycache__/efficiency_nodes.cpython-312.pyc b/__pycache__/efficiency_nodes.cpython-312.pyc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bd47f6
Binary files /dev/null and b/__pycache__/efficiency_nodes.cpython-312.pyc differ
diff --git a/efficiency_nodes.py b/efficiency_nodes.py
index 286d84d..2e88b0a 100644
--- a/efficiency_nodes.py
+++ b/efficiency_nodes.py
@@ -166,6 +166,13 @@ class TSC_EfficientLoader:
                         f"{warning('Efficiency Nodes:')} Baked VAE not found in cache, loading checkpoint to extract VAE...")
                     _, _, vae = load_checkpoint(ckpt_name, my_unique_id, output_vae=True, cache=ckpt_cache,
                                                 cache_overwrite=True)
+                    # Check if VAE extraction was successful
+                    if vae is None:
+                        raise ValueError(
+                            f"Checkpoint '{ckpt_name}' does not contain an embedded VAE. "
+                            f"This checkpoint (likely an AIO model) requires an external VAE. "
+                            f"Please select a VAE file instead of 'Baked VAE'."
+                        )
         else:
             model, clip, vae = load_checkpoint(ckpt_name, my_unique_id, cache=ckpt_cache, cache_overwrite=True)
             lora_params = None
@@ -195,6 +202,13 @@ class TSC_EfficientLoader:
         # Check for custom VAE
         if vae_name != "Baked VAE":
             vae = load_vae(vae_name, my_unique_id, cache=vae_cache, cache_overwrite=True)
+        elif vae is None:
+            # If "Baked VAE" was selected but checkpoint has no embedded VAE
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Checkpoint '{ckpt_name}' does not contain an embedded VAE. "
+                f"This checkpoint (likely an AIO model) requires an external VAE. "
+                f"Please select a VAE file instead of 'Baked VAE'."
+            )
 
         # Data for XY Plot
         dependencies = (vae_name, ckpt_name, clip, clip_skip, refiner_name, refiner_clip, refiner_clip_skip,