"No menu items found. Try a different menu as the default."

I am getting the following error for users who don't have permissions to see the default navigation menu: "No menu items found. Try a different menu as the default."

I don't want this error to appear. I have tried setting paths that the simple menu shouldn't appear on, yet this error still appears on those paths. I have tried removing permissions to view simple menu for unauthorized users - this error still appears. I have tried excluding simple menu for the theme that those pages are using (they are on a separate theme from the rest of the site) - the error still appears. I can't find a way to exclude the error. Can you please help me?