Based on @clive's comment above, I adjusted the code to check that $entity is actually present. I'm not sure if this is a problem unique to my install or not. I only saw the error when viewing a node of type 'lesson' through a paged view that depends on some custom relationship code, so entirely possible the error is mine somewhere in a custom module. function HOOK_utility_field_access($op, $field, $entity_type, $entity, $account) { //Check to make sure we have an entity. Abort if not. if (is_object($entity)) { //Check video field only when attached to 'lesson'. if ($field['field_name'] == 'field_video' && $entity_type == 'node' && $op == 'view' && $entity->type == 'lesson') { //Grant access only if user is logged in. if ($account->uid > 0) { return TRUE; } return FALSE; } } }