diff --git a/src/apps.js b/src/apps.js
index 7d1d8b521..c703b07a6 100644
--- a/src/apps.js
+++ b/src/apps.js
@@ -1820,6 +1820,10 @@ function exec(app, options, callback) {
 
 function canAutoupdateApp(app, newManifest) {
     if (!app.enableAutomaticUpdate) return false;
+
+    // for invalid subscriptions the appstore does not return a dockerImage
+    if (!newManifest.dockerImage) return false;
+
     if ((semver.major(app.manifest.version) !== 0) && (semver.major(app.manifest.version) !== semver.major(newManifest.version))) return false; // major changes are blocking
 
     if (app.runState === exports.RSTATE_STOPPED) return false; // stopped apps won't run migration scripts and shouldn't be updated