diff --git a/app/models/discussion_topic.rb b/app/models/discussion_topic.rb
index cea8cbef95c..b0b267c4ffe 100644
--- a/app/models/discussion_topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/discussion_topic.rb
@@ -1427,6 +1427,12 @@ class DiscussionTopic < ActiveRecord::Base
       return false
     end
 
+    # course can be an account in case the topic context is group
+    # and the group context is account
+    unless course.is_a?(Course)
+      return false
+    end
+
     course.feature_enabled?(:discussion_summary) && (
       course.user_is_instructor?(user) || course.grants_right?(user, :read_as_admin)
     )
diff --git a/spec/models/discussion_topic_spec.rb b/spec/models/discussion_topic_spec.rb
index d6a4542c814..bcec33b3556 100644
--- a/spec/models/discussion_topic_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/discussion_topic_spec.rb
@@ -3590,6 +3590,20 @@ describe DiscussionTopic do
       expect(@topic.user_can_summarize?(@observer)).to be false
       expect(@topic.user_can_summarize?(@student)).to be false
     end
+
+    it "does not crash if the topic is in the context of a group with account context" do
+      account = @course.root_account
+      account.enable_feature!(:discussion_summary)
+      group = account.groups.create!
+      topic = group.discussion_topics.create!(title: "topic")
+
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@teacher)).to be false
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@ta)).to be false
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@admin)).to be false
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@designer)).to be false
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@observer)).to be false
+      expect(topic.user_can_summarize?(@student)).to be false
+    end
   end
 
   describe "low_level_locked_for?" do