diff --git a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/components/commons/datafield/WordListData.java b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/components/commons/datafield/WordListData.java
index 1a2bc455f..6f16abf51 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/components/commons/datafield/WordListData.java
+++ b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/models/data/components/commons/datafield/WordListData.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public class WordListData extends ComboBoxData<WordListData> {
     @Override
     public Element toXml(Document doc) {
         Element root = super.toXml(doc);
-        root.setAttribute("multiList", this.multiList.toString());
+        root.setAttribute("multiList", this.multiList != null ? this.multiList.toString() : "false");
         Element element = doc.createElement("options");
         if (this.options != null) {
             for (Option option : this.options) {