diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/io/PublicDBDocumentEntry.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/io/PublicDBDocumentEntry.java
index 5a8ba07e555a820bf9dcfa178a496370188d561b..11284b4b93d9bff5e14ec4085372efc33223bb9f 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/io/PublicDBDocumentEntry.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/io/PublicDBDocumentEntry.java
@@ -211,7 +211,8 @@ public class PublicDBDocumentEntry extends SimpleDocumentEntry
     if(location == null)
       return null;
     // flatten gene model - combining qualifiers
-    if(key.getKeyString().equals(DatabaseDocument.EXONMODEL))
+    if(key.getKeyString().equals(DatabaseDocument.EXONMODEL) &&
+        ((GFFStreamFeature)feature).getChadoGene() != null)
     {
       ChadoCanonicalGene chadoGene = ((GFFStreamFeature)feature).getChadoGene();