diff --git a/src/datasource/precomputed/frontend.ts b/src/datasource/precomputed/frontend.ts
index 3ee7808d4..4e7563557 100644
--- a/src/datasource/precomputed/frontend.ts
+++ b/src/datasource/precomputed/frontend.ts
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ export class PrecomputedMultiscaleVolumeChunkSource extends MultiscaleVolumeChun
     return transposeNestedArrays(
       this.info.scales
         .filter((x) => !x.hidden)
+        .filter((x) => x.key !== "placeholder")
         .map((scaleInfo) => {
           const { resolution } = scaleInfo;
           const stride = rank + 1;