diff --git a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/datasetwizard/DatasetWizardModel.java b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/datasetwizard/DatasetWizardModel.java
index cf4e6da80..412781238 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/datasetwizard/DatasetWizardModel.java
+++ b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/datasetwizard/DatasetWizardModel.java
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ public class DatasetWizardModel implements DataModel<Dataset, DatasetWizardModel
                 Class<?>[] params = setterMethod.getParameterTypes();
                 ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
                 //GK: Tags Special logic
-                if (prefillingMapping.getTarget().equals("tags")) {
+                if (!value.equals("null") && prefillingMapping.getTarget().equals("tags")) {
                     List<Object> rawTags = (List<Object>) mapper.readValue(value, params[0]);
                     if (rawTags.get(0) instanceof String) {
                         List<Tag> parsedTags = rawTags.stream().map(rawTag -> new Tag((String) rawTag, (String) rawTag)).collect(Collectors.toList());