diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
index 439ae0936e76..56b497112e16 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 * [*] Add permalink preview in the slug editor and make other improvements [#24949]
 * [*] Add "Taxonomies" to Site Settings [#24955]
 * [*] Update "Categories" picker to indicate multiple selection [#24952]
+* [*] Fix rare crash on launch when new editor is enabled [#24944]
 
 26.4
 -----
diff --git a/Sources/WordPressData/Swift/NSManagedObject.swift b/Sources/WordPressData/Swift/NSManagedObject.swift
index bb9c36ec82e4..b01493d564a1 100644
--- a/Sources/WordPressData/Swift/NSManagedObject.swift
+++ b/Sources/WordPressData/Swift/NSManagedObject.swift
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ public extension NSManagedObject {
         return result.flatMap({ ValueType(rawValue: $0) })
     }
 
-    var locallyUniqueId: String {
+    var locallyUniqueID: String {
         let data = Data(self.objectID.uriRepresentation().absoluteString.utf8)
         return SHA256.hash(data: data).compactMap { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined()
     }
diff --git a/WordPress/Classes/Services/RawBlockEditorSettingsService.swift b/WordPress/Classes/Services/RawBlockEditorSettingsService.swift
index e4234b195fbd..832e0f9031bf 100644
--- a/WordPress/Classes/Services/RawBlockEditorSettingsService.swift
+++ b/WordPress/Classes/Services/RawBlockEditorSettingsService.swift
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ final class RawBlockEditorSettingsService {
     private var prefetchTask: Task<Void, Never>?
 
     @MainActor
-    init(blog: Blog) {
-        self.dotOrgRestAPI = WordPressOrgRestApi(blog: blog)!
-        self.blogID = blog.locallyUniqueId
+    init(dotOrgRestAPI: WordPressOrgRestApi, blog: Blog) {
+        self.dotOrgRestAPI = dotOrgRestAPI
+        self.blogID = blog.locallyUniqueID
     }
 
     private func fetchSettingsFromAPI() async throws -> Data {
diff --git a/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/Blog/My Site/MySiteViewController.swift b/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/Blog/My Site/MySiteViewController.swift
index 3b3209f02140..970a1a1eab0b 100644
--- a/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/Blog/My Site/MySiteViewController.swift	
+++ b/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/Blog/My Site/MySiteViewController.swift	
@@ -358,7 +358,10 @@ final class MySiteViewController: UIViewController, UIScrollViewDelegate, NoSite
         let configuration = EditorConfiguration(blog: blog)
         GutenbergKit.EditorViewController.warmup(configuration: configuration)
 
-        RawBlockEditorSettingsService(blog: blog).prefetchSettings()
+        if let dotOrgRestAPI = WordPressOrgRestApi(blog: blog) {
+            RawBlockEditorSettingsService(dotOrgRestAPI: dotOrgRestAPI, blog: blog)
+                .prefetchSettings()
+        }
     }
 
     // MARK: - Main Blog
diff --git a/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/NewGutenberg/NewGutenbergViewController.swift b/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/NewGutenberg/NewGutenbergViewController.swift
index fca8dff431f9..c05b2a94a132 100644
--- a/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/NewGutenberg/NewGutenbergViewController.swift
+++ b/WordPress/Classes/ViewRelated/NewGutenberg/NewGutenbergViewController.swift
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class NewGutenbergViewController: UIViewController, PostEditor, PublishingEditor
     func setHTML(_ html: String) {}
     func getHTML() -> String { post.content ?? "" }
 
-    private let blockEditorSettingsService: RawBlockEditorSettingsService
+    private let blockEditorSettingsService: RawBlockEditorSettingsService?
 
     // MARK: - Initializers
     required convenience init(
@@ -183,7 +183,11 @@ class NewGutenbergViewController: UIViewController, PostEditor, PublishingEditor
         let editorConfiguration = EditorConfiguration(blog: post.blog)
         self.editorViewController = GutenbergKit.EditorViewController(configuration: editorConfiguration)
 
-        self.blockEditorSettingsService = RawBlockEditorSettingsService(blog: post.blog)
+        if let dotOrgRestAPI = WordPressOrgRestApi(blog: post.blog) {
+            self.blockEditorSettingsService = RawBlockEditorSettingsService(dotOrgRestAPI: dotOrgRestAPI, blog: post.blog)
+        } else {
+            self.blockEditorSettingsService = nil
+        }
 
         super.init(nibName: nil, bundle: nil)
 
@@ -474,12 +478,13 @@ class NewGutenbergViewController: UIViewController, PostEditor, PublishingEditor
 
     // MARK: - Editor Setup
     private func fetchEditorDependencies() async throws -> EditorDependencies {
-        let settings: String?
-        do {
-            settings = try await blockEditorSettingsService.getSettingsString(allowingCachedResponse: true)
-        } catch {
-            DDLogError("Failed to fetch editor settings: \(error)")
-            settings = nil
+        var settings: String?
+        if let blockEditorSettingsService {
+            do {
+                settings = try await blockEditorSettingsService.getSettingsString(allowingCachedResponse: true)
+            } catch {
+                DDLogError("Failed to fetch editor settings: \(error)")
+            }
         }
 
         let loaded = await loadAuthenticationCookiesAsync()