diff --git a/papermage/magelib/entity.py b/papermage/magelib/entity.py
index 8447019..adb8394 100644
--- a/papermage/magelib/entity.py
+++ b/papermage/magelib/entity.py
@@ -101,7 +101,13 @@ def __getattr__(self, name: str) -> List["Entity"]:
             "Please use Entity.intersect_by_span or Entity.intersect_by_box instead."
         )
         try:
-            return self.intersect_by_span(name=name)
+            if len(self.spans) > 0:
+                intersection = self.intersect_by_span(name=name)
+                if len(intersection) == 0 and len(self.boxes) > 0:
+                    intersection = self.intersect_by_box(name=name)
+                return intersection
+            else:
+                return self.intersect_by_box(name=name)
         except ValueError:
             # maybe users just want some attribute of the Entity object
             return self.__getattribute__(name)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e1a6f9d..b45ec74 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = 'papermage'
-version = '0.17.0'
+version = '0.18.0'
 description = 'Papermage. Casting magic over scientific PDFs.'
 license = {text = 'Apache-2.0'}
 readme = 'README.md'
diff --git a/tests/test_magelib/test_document.py b/tests/test_magelib/test_document.py
index 20c2aed..fdf7ef0 100644
--- a/tests/test_magelib/test_document.py
+++ b/tests/test_magelib/test_document.py
@@ -150,6 +150,33 @@ def test_cross_referencing(self):
         self.assertListEqual(doc.intersect_by_box(query=doc.tokens[4], name="chunks"), [chunks[1]])
         self.assertListEqual(doc.intersect_by_box(query=doc.tokens[5], name="chunks"), [chunks[1]])
 
+    def test_cross_referencing_with_no_spans(self):
+        doc = Document("This is a test document!")
+        # boxes are in a top-left to bottom-right diagonal fashion (same page)
+        tokens = [
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[0, 4]], "boxes": [[0, 0, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[5, 7]], "boxes": [[1, 1, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[8, 9]], "boxes": [[2, 2, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[10, 14]], "boxes": [[3, 3, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[15, 23]], "boxes": [[4, 4, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"spans": [[23, 24]], "boxes": [[5, 5, 0.5, 0.5, 0]]}),
+        ]
+        # chunks have no spans
+        chunks = [
+            Entity.from_json({"boxes": [[0, 0, 2.01, 2.01, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"boxes": [[3.0, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0, 0]]}),
+            Entity.from_json({"boxes": [[0, 0, 10.0, 10.0, 1]]}),
+        ]
+        doc.annotate_layer(name="tokens", entities=tokens)
+        doc.annotate_layer(name="chunks", entities=chunks)
+
+        # getattr() should still work when no spans; defers to boxes
+        self.assertListEqual(doc.chunks[0].tokens, tokens[:3])
+        self.assertListEqual(doc.chunks[1].tokens, tokens[3:])
+
+        # last chunk is on a different page; intersects nothing
+        self.assertListEqual(doc.chunks[2].tokens, [])
+
     def test_cross_referencing_with_missing_entity_fields(self):
         """What happens when annotate a Doc with entiites missing spans or boxes?
         How does the cross-referencing operation behave?"""