diff --git a/datamodel/low/base/schema_proxy_test.go b/datamodel/low/base/schema_proxy_test.go
index 46b1ae3..1227241 100644
--- a/datamodel/low/base/schema_proxy_test.go
+++ b/datamodel/low/base/schema_proxy_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ package base
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"log/slog"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/pb33f/libopenapi/datamodel/low"
@@ -161,6 +163,9 @@ properties:
 func TestSchemaProxy_Build_HashFail(t *testing.T) {
 
 	sp := new(SchemaProxy)
+	logger := slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(os.Stderr, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelError}))
+	idx := index.NewSpecIndexWithConfig(nil, &index.SpecIndexConfig{Logger: logger})
+	sp.idx = idx
 	v := sp.Hash()
 	assert.Equal(t, [32]byte{}, v)
 }
diff --git a/index/spec_index.go b/index/spec_index.go
index 5aad3b7..75cbcda 100644
--- a/index/spec_index.go
+++ b/index/spec_index.go
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@ func NewSpecIndexWithConfig(rootNode *yaml.Node, config *SpecIndexConfig) *SpecI
 	index.rolodex = config.Rolodex
 	index.uri = config.uri
 	index.specAbsolutePath = config.SpecAbsolutePath
-	if rootNode == nil || len(rootNode.Content) <= 0 {
-		return index
-	}
 	if config.Logger != nil {
 		index.logger = config.Logger
 	} else {
@@ -46,7 +43,9 @@ func NewSpecIndexWithConfig(rootNode *yaml.Node, config *SpecIndexConfig) *SpecI
 			Level: slog.LevelError,
 		}))
 	}
-
+	if rootNode == nil || len(rootNode.Content) <= 0 {
+		return index
+	}
 	index.root = rootNode
 	return createNewIndex(rootNode, index, config.AvoidBuildIndex)
 }