diff --git a/payu/models/__init__.py b/payu/models/__init__.py
index e7f0d0a9..c3b4e971 100644
--- a/payu/models/__init__.py
+++ b/payu/models/__init__.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 from payu.models.model import Model
 
 index = {
-    'access':   Access,
+    'access':     Access,
     'access-om2': AccessOm2,
     'access-om3': AccessOm3,
     'cice':       Cice,
diff --git a/payu/models/cable.py b/payu/models/cable.py
index a908d622..cfd48017 100644
--- a/payu/models/cable.py
+++ b/payu/models/cable.py
@@ -56,9 +56,14 @@ def set_model_pathnames(self):
     def setup(self):
         super(Cable, self).setup()
 
-        if os.path.exists(self.restart_calendar_path):
-            with open(self.restart_calendar_path, 'r') as restart_file:
-                self.restart_info = yaml.safe_load(restart_file)
+        if not self.prior_restart_path:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                "Spinup is not yet supported for the CABLE model driver. Please "
+                "specify the `restart` key in config.yaml."
+            )
+
+        with open(self.restart_calendar_path, 'r') as restart_file:
+            self.restart_info = yaml.safe_load(restart_file)
 
         with open(self.cable_nml_path, 'r') as f:
             nml_template = Template(f.read())
@@ -67,10 +72,7 @@ def setup(self):
             nml_template.substitute(self.restart_info)
         )
 
-        if self.prior_restart_path:
-            self.cable_nml['cable']['spinup'] = False
-        else:
-            self.cable_nml['cable']['spinup'] = True
+        self.cable_nml['cable']['ncciy'] = self.restart_info['year']
 
         # Write modified namelist file to work dir
         self.cable_nml.write(