diff --git a/cassandra/policies.py b/cassandra/policies.py
index fcffc41b..6ffe34d1 100644
--- a/cassandra/policies.py
+++ b/cassandra/policies.py
@@ -186,25 +186,31 @@ class DCAwareRoundRobinPolicy(LoadBalancingPolicy):
         self.used_hosts_per_remote_dc = used_hosts_per_remote_dc
         self._dc_live_hosts = {}
 
+    def _dc(self, host):
+        return host.datacenter or self.local_dc
+
     def populate(self, cluster, hosts):
-        for dc, dc_hosts in groupby(hosts, lambda h: h.datacenter):
+        for dc, dc_hosts in groupby(hosts, lambda h: self._dc(h)):
             self._dc_live_hosts[dc] = set(dc_hosts)
 
         # position is currently only used for local hosts
         local_live = self._dc_live_hosts.get(self.local_dc)
-        if len(local_live) == 1:
+        if not local_live:
+            self._position = 0
+        elif len(local_live) == 1:
             self._position = 0
         else:
             self._position = randint(0, len(local_live) - 1)
 
     def distance(self, host):
-        if host.datacenter == self.local_dc:
+        dc = self._dc(host)
+        if dc == self.local_dc:
             return HostDistance.LOCAL
 
         if not self.used_hosts_per_remote_dc:
             return HostDistance.IGNORED
         else:
-            dc_hosts = self._dc_live_hosts.get(host.datacenter)
+            dc_hosts = self._dc_live_hosts.get(dc)
             if not dc_hosts:
                 return HostDistance.IGNORED
 
@@ -219,8 +225,8 @@ class DCAwareRoundRobinPolicy(LoadBalancingPolicy):
         pos = self._position
         self._position += 1
 
-        local_live = list(self._dc_live_hosts.get(self.local_dc))
-        pos %= len(local_live)
+        local_live = list(self._dc_live_hosts.get(self.local_dc, ()))
+        pos = (pos % len(local_live)) if local_live else 0
         for host in islice(cycle(local_live), pos, pos + len(local_live)):
             yield host
 
@@ -232,16 +238,16 @@ class DCAwareRoundRobinPolicy(LoadBalancingPolicy):
                 yield host
 
     def on_up(self, host):
-        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(host.datacenter, set()).add(host)
+        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(self._dc(host), set()).add(host)
 
     def on_down(self, host):
-        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(host.datacenter, set()).discard(host)
+        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(self._dc(host), set()).discard(host)
 
     def on_add(self, host):
-        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(host.datacenter, set()).add(host)
+        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(self._dc(host), set()).add(host)
 
     def on_remove(self, host):
-        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(host.datacenter, set()).discard(host)
+        self._dc_live_hosts.setdefault(self._dc(host), set()).discard(host)
 
 
 class TokenAwarePolicy(LoadBalancingPolicy):