diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/utils/DataUtil.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/utils/DataUtil.java
index 3c37d97df9083cb2a982a8ce14f71e03d85e1cd6..007f62cc3ccb0f8d9e3afb8ef7b2a173c9534013 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/utils/DataUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/utils/DataUtil.java
@@ -29,8 +29,11 @@ public class DataUtil {
     {
         JsonObject data = new JsonObject();
 
-        if (filters.length() > 0)
-        {
+        if (filters == null) {
+            filters = "";
+        }
+
+        if (filters.length() > 0) {
             filters = String.format("AND %s", filters);
         }