diff --git a/IPython/core/debugger.py b/IPython/core/debugger.py
index 1f0d7b2..76c42e0 100644
--- a/IPython/core/debugger.py
+++ b/IPython/core/debugger.py
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ class Pdb(OldPdb):
         So if frame is self.current_frame we instead return self.curframe_locals
 
         """
-        if frame is self.curframe:
+        if frame is getattr(self, "curframe", None):
             return self.curframe_locals
         else:
             return frame.f_locals