diff --git a/vmware_nsx/plugins/nsx_v/plugin.py b/vmware_nsx/plugins/nsx_v/plugin.py
index 22dee1f3ee..5e61ccbcd6 100644
--- a/vmware_nsx/plugins/nsx_v/plugin.py
+++ b/vmware_nsx/plugins/nsx_v/plugin.py
@@ -2857,7 +2857,7 @@ class NsxVPluginV2(addr_pair_db.AllowedAddressPairsMixin,
         # Toggling router type is supported only for non-distributed router
         elif 'router_type' in router['router']:
             r = self.get_router(context, router_id)
-            if r['router_type'] != router['router']['router_type']:
+            if r.get('router_type') != router['router']['router_type']:
                 if r["distributed"]:
                     err_msg = _('Unable to update distributed mode')
                     raise n_exc.InvalidInput(error_message=err_msg)
diff --git a/vmware_nsx/tests/unit/nsx_v/test_plugin.py b/vmware_nsx/tests/unit/nsx_v/test_plugin.py
index d8b3fbbb11..3dd2005e5c 100644
--- a/vmware_nsx/tests/unit/nsx_v/test_plugin.py
+++ b/vmware_nsx/tests/unit/nsx_v/test_plugin.py
@@ -3778,6 +3778,30 @@ class TestVdrTestCase(L3NatTest, L3NatTestCaseBase,
             with self.subnet(network=net, enable_dhcp=False):
                 self._make_floatingip(self.fmt, net_id)
 
+    def test_router_update_type_fails(self):
+        """Check distributed router cannot change it's type
+        """
+        # create a distributed router
+        tenant_id = _uuid()
+        res = self._create_router(self.fmt, tenant_id, distributed=True)
+        r = self.deserialize(self.fmt, res)
+        router_id = r['router']['id']
+
+        # make sure changing the type fails
+        self._update('routers', router_id,
+                     {'router': {'router_type': 'shared'}},
+                     expected_code=400)
+        self._update('routers', router_id,
+                     {'router': {'router_type': 'exclusive'}},
+                     expected_code=400)
+        self._update('routers', router_id,
+                     {'router': {'distributed': False}},
+                     expected_code=400)
+        # make sure keeping the type is ok
+        self._update('routers', router_id,
+                     {'router': {'distributed': True}},
+                     expected_code=200)
+
     def test_router_add_interface_multiple_ipv4_subnets(self):
         self.skipTest('TBD')