diff --git a/oaipmh-core/src/main/java/info/textgrid/middleware/DublinCoreFieldLoader.java b/oaipmh-core/src/main/java/info/textgrid/middleware/DublinCoreFieldLoader.java
index 8a31513806f9a53bd799e1a19ad7a25347682836..26fea34d941162bfda0a03cbe75bb53d7f71ad90 100644
--- a/oaipmh-core/src/main/java/info/textgrid/middleware/DublinCoreFieldLoader.java
+++ b/oaipmh-core/src/main/java/info/textgrid/middleware/DublinCoreFieldLoader.java
@@ -91,10 +91,9 @@ public class DublinCoreFieldLoader {
 	public static List<String> setCoverage(GetResponse responseWorkValues, String[] values) {
 
 		for (String field : values) {
-			System.out.println("fieldname: "+ field);
-			if (responseWorkValues.getField(field) != null) {
-				System.out.println("value of coverage" + responseWorkValues.getField(field).getValue().toString());
-				coverages.add(responseWorkValues.getField(field).getValue().toString());
+			System.out.println("fieldname: " + field);
+			if (field!= null && responseWorkValues.getField(field) != null) {
+				 coverages.add(responseWorkValues.getField(field).getValue().toString());
 			}
 		}