diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/editor/FastaTextPane.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/editor/FastaTextPane.java
index ffaef8cc4837764a7b89543dade09b387746d3f7..430749fcd5fe561541702a327039b185c0879e05 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/editor/FastaTextPane.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/editor/FastaTextPane.java
@@ -701,10 +701,12 @@ public class FastaTextPane extends JScrollPane
         StringBuffer buff = new StringBuffer();
         for(int i=0; i<queryMfetch.length; i++)
         {
-          String mfetch = queryMfetch[i].toString();
-          if(mfetch.length() == 0)
+          if(queryMfetch[i] == null ||
+             queryMfetch[i].toString().length() == 0 )
             continue;
           
+          String mfetch = queryMfetch[i].toString();
+          
           if(fmfetch.exists())  // local
           {
             String cmd[]   = { "mfetch", "-f", "acc org des gen",