diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Skinning/ManiaLegacySkinTransformer.cs b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Skinning/ManiaLegacySkinTransformer.cs
index 69e6a0d238..3e423c6b0f 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Skinning/ManiaLegacySkinTransformer.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Skinning/ManiaLegacySkinTransformer.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Skinning
 
         private Lazy<bool> isLegacySkin;
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Whether texture for the keys exists.
+        /// Used to determine if the mania ruleset is skinned.
+        /// </summary>
+        private Lazy<bool> hasKeyTexture;
+
         public ManiaLegacySkinTransformer(ISkinSource source)
         {
             this.source = source;
@@ -29,6 +35,10 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Skinning
         private void sourceChanged()
         {
             isLegacySkin = new Lazy<bool>(() => source.GetConfig<LegacySkinConfiguration.LegacySetting, decimal>(LegacySkinConfiguration.LegacySetting.Version) != null);
+            hasKeyTexture = new Lazy<bool>(() => source.GetAnimation(
+                source.GetConfig<LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookup, string>(
+                    new LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookup(4, LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.KeyImage, 0))?.Value
+                ?? "mania-key1", true, true) != null);
         }
 
         public Drawable GetDrawableComponent(ISkinComponent component)
@@ -39,7 +49,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Skinning
                     return getResult(resultComponent);
 
                 case ManiaSkinComponent maniaComponent:
-                    if (!isLegacySkin.Value)
+                    if (!isLegacySkin.Value || !hasKeyTexture.Value)
                         return null;
 
                     switch (maniaComponent.Component)
diff --git a/osu.Game/Skinning/LegacySkin.cs b/osu.Game/Skinning/LegacySkin.cs
index eafbdd4ee5..52655fd01a 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Skinning/LegacySkin.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Skinning/LegacySkin.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
 // See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
 
+using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.IO;
@@ -27,7 +28,13 @@ namespace osu.Game.Skinning
         [CanBeNull]
         protected IResourceStore<SampleChannel> Samples;
 
-        protected virtual bool AllowManiaSkin => true;
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Whether texture for the keys exists.
+        /// Used to determine if the mania ruleset is skinned.
+        /// </summary>
+        private readonly Lazy<bool> hasKeyTexture;
+
+        protected virtual bool AllowManiaSkin => hasKeyTexture.Value;
 
         public new LegacySkinConfiguration Configuration
         {
@@ -77,6 +84,10 @@ namespace osu.Game.Skinning
 
                 (storage as ResourceStore<byte[]>)?.AddExtension("ogg");
             }
+
+            // todo: this shouldn't really be duplicated here (from ManiaLegacySkinTransformer). we need to come up with a better solution.
+            hasKeyTexture = new Lazy<bool>(() => this.GetAnimation(
+                lookupForMania<string>(new LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookup(4, LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.KeyImage, 0))?.Value ?? "mania-key1", true, true) != null);
         }
 
         protected override void Dispose(bool isDisposing)
@@ -125,28 +136,9 @@ namespace osu.Game.Skinning
                     if (!AllowManiaSkin)
                         return null;
 
-                    if (!maniaConfigurations.TryGetValue(maniaLookup.Keys, out var existing))
-                        maniaConfigurations[maniaLookup.Keys] = existing = new LegacyManiaSkinConfiguration(maniaLookup.Keys);
-
-                    switch (maniaLookup.Lookup)
-                    {
-                        case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ColumnWidth:
-                            Debug.Assert(maniaLookup.TargetColumn != null);
-                            return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.ColumnWidth[maniaLookup.TargetColumn.Value]));
-
-                        case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ColumnSpacing:
-                            Debug.Assert(maniaLookup.TargetColumn != null);
-                            return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.ColumnSpacing[maniaLookup.TargetColumn.Value]));
-
-                        case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.HitPosition:
-                            return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.HitPosition));
-
-                        case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.LightPosition:
-                            return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.LightPosition));
-
-                        case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ShowJudgementLine:
-                            return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<bool>(existing.ShowJudgementLine));
-                    }
+                    var result = lookupForMania<TValue>(maniaLookup);
+                    if (result != null)
+                        return result;
 
                     break;
 
@@ -177,6 +169,34 @@ namespace osu.Game.Skinning
             return null;
         }
 
+        private IBindable<TValue> lookupForMania<TValue>(LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookup maniaLookup)
+        {
+            if (!maniaConfigurations.TryGetValue(maniaLookup.Keys, out var existing))
+                maniaConfigurations[maniaLookup.Keys] = existing = new LegacyManiaSkinConfiguration(maniaLookup.Keys);
+
+            switch (maniaLookup.Lookup)
+            {
+                case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ColumnWidth:
+                    Debug.Assert(maniaLookup.TargetColumn != null);
+                    return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.ColumnWidth[maniaLookup.TargetColumn.Value]));
+
+                case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ColumnSpacing:
+                    Debug.Assert(maniaLookup.TargetColumn != null);
+                    return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.ColumnSpacing[maniaLookup.TargetColumn.Value]));
+
+                case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.HitPosition:
+                    return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.HitPosition));
+
+                case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.LightPosition:
+                    return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<float>(existing.LightPosition));
+
+                case LegacyManiaSkinConfigurationLookups.ShowJudgementLine:
+                    return SkinUtils.As<TValue>(new Bindable<bool>(existing.ShowJudgementLine));
+            }
+
+            return null;
+        }
+
         private IBindable<Color4> getCustomColour(string lookup) => Configuration.CustomColours.TryGetValue(lookup, out var col) ? new Bindable<Color4>(col) : null;
 
         public override Drawable GetDrawableComponent(ISkinComponent component)