diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/TransferAnnotationTool.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/TransferAnnotationTool.java
index be2c83cf26a5e2e61f379cc69b7b17d830ffef22..f22c08b891947b400c6bc5a3a7dc5120fe2fa378 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/TransferAnnotationTool.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/TransferAnnotationTool.java
@@ -739,6 +739,8 @@ public class TransferAnnotationTool extends JFrame
    */
   private static String[] removeArrayElement(final String strArr[], final String str)
   {
+    if(strArr.length == 1)
+      return strArr;
     String[] newarray = new String[strArr.length - 1];
     int count = 0;
     for (int i = 0; i < strArr.length; i++)