diff --git a/contrib/linkchecker/linkchecker.module b/contrib/linkchecker/linkchecker.module
index 8527319..040a5aa 100644
--- a/contrib/linkchecker/linkchecker.module
+++ b/contrib/linkchecker/linkchecker.module
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ function _linkchecker_link_node_ids($link, $node_author_account = NULL) {
  */
 function _linkchecker_link_comment_ids($link, $comment_author_account = NULL) {
   // If the user cannot access comments, there is no need to check further.
-  if (!user_access('access comments')) {
+  if (!module_exists('comment') || variable_get('linkchecker_scan_comments', 0) || !user_access('access comments')) {
     return array();
   }