diff --git a/eos/modifiedAttributeDict.py b/eos/modifiedAttributeDict.py
index 421c2418d..2174252f0 100644
--- a/eos/modifiedAttributeDict.py
+++ b/eos/modifiedAttributeDict.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class ModifiedAttributeDict(collections.MutableMapping):
 
     def getOriginal(self, key, default=None):
 
-        if self.overrides:
+        if self.overrides_enabled and self.overrides:
             val = self.overrides.get(key, None)
         else:
             val = None