diff --git a/lib/phoenix/node.py b/lib/phoenix/node.py
index 9cf2cd0..6f7485c 100755
--- a/lib/phoenix/node.py
+++ b/lib/phoenix/node.py
@@ -276,6 +276,10 @@ def __delitem__(self, key):
         raise NotImplementedError("Attributes cannot be deleted from a node")
 
     def __contains__(self, key):
+        if not self.ran_plugins:
+            self.run_plugins()
+        if not self.linked_model:
+            self.link_model()
         return key in self.data
 
     def addlayer(self, layer, position=None):