diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
index bad3498b93b87eabc83c0b4753b82b7a1bf6a463..ab0dc40a4f0713f81d1e0dbc6ab6f78a7907a711 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@ sub seq_region_start {
   if ( defined($slice) ) {
 
     return $self->_seq_region_boundary_from_db('start')
-      if $slice->is_circular() and $self->adaptor();
+      if $slice->is_circular() and $self->adaptor->dbc;
 
     my $start;
     if ( $slice->strand() == 1 ) {
@@ -1142,7 +1142,7 @@ sub seq_region_end {
   if ( defined($slice) ) {
 
     return $self->_seq_region_boundary_from_db('end')
-      if $slice->is_circular() and $self->adaptor();
+      if $slice->is_circular() and $self->adaptor->dbc;
 
     my $end;
     if ( $slice->strand() == 1 ) {