diff --git a/examples/preact/simple/src/index.tsx b/examples/preact/simple/src/index.tsx
index 89e7a898ed3..ae8098936a3 100644
--- a/examples/preact/simple/src/index.tsx
+++ b/examples/preact/simple/src/index.tsx
@@ -42,4 +42,7 @@ const Example = () => {
   )
 }
 
-render(<App />, document.getElementById('app'))
+const app = document.getElementById('app')
+if (!app) throw new Error('Missing #app element')
+
+render(<App />, app)