diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFRecord.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFRecord.java
index 9c040b04228cc47c7131a4e144e7e11169608486..e783792a20fa69dbd36deefcfa90fd09a2590523 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFRecord.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VCFRecord.java
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ class VCFRecord
    */
   private String getSampleDataString()
   {
+    if(data == null)
+      return "";
     StringBuffer buff = new StringBuffer();
     for(int i=0; i<data.length; i++)       // loop over samples
     {