diff --git a/backend/core/src/main/java/org/opencdmp/service/dmp/DmpServiceImpl.java b/backend/core/src/main/java/org/opencdmp/service/dmp/DmpServiceImpl.java
index 7b0c48759..3bee75ac3 100644
--- a/backend/core/src/main/java/org/opencdmp/service/dmp/DmpServiceImpl.java
+++ b/backend/core/src/main/java/org/opencdmp/service/dmp/DmpServiceImpl.java
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ public class DmpServiceImpl implements DmpService {
                     .groupIds(data.getGroupId());
 
             dmpQuery.setOrder(new Ordering().addDescending(Dmp._version));
-            previousDmp = dmpQuery.collect().get(0);
+            previousDmp = dmpQuery.count() > 0 ? dmpQuery.collect().get(0) : null;
             if (previousDmp != null){
                 if (previousDmp.getStatus().equals(DmpStatus.Finalized)) previousDmp.setVersionStatus(DmpVersionStatus.Current);
                 else previousDmp.setVersionStatus(DmpVersionStatus.NotFinalized);
@@ -1101,7 +1101,7 @@ public class DmpServiceImpl implements DmpService {
                 .groupIds(dmp.getGroupId());
 
         dmpQuery.setOrder(new Ordering().addDescending(Dmp._version));
-        DmpEntity previousDmp = dmpQuery.collect().get(0);
+        DmpEntity previousDmp = dmpQuery.count() > 0 ? dmpQuery.collect().get(0) : null;
         if (previousDmp != null){
             if (previousDmp.getStatus().equals(DmpStatus.Finalized)) previousDmp.setVersionStatus(DmpVersionStatus.Current);
             else previousDmp.setVersionStatus(DmpVersionStatus.NotFinalized);