diff --git a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/logic/mapper/prefilling/PrefillingMapper.java b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/logic/mapper/prefilling/PrefillingMapper.java
index fea4f46e0..1fdfa6691 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/logic/mapper/prefilling/PrefillingMapper.java
+++ b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/logic/mapper/prefilling/PrefillingMapper.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import eu.eudat.models.data.datasetprofile.DatasetProfileOverviewModel;
 import eu.eudat.models.data.datasetprofile.RenderStyle;
 import eu.eudat.models.data.datasetwizard.DatasetWizardModel;
 import eu.eudat.models.data.externaldataset.ExternalAutocompleteFieldModel;
-import org.json.JSONObject;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
@@ -201,15 +200,12 @@ public class PrefillingMapper {
     }
 
     private static List<Tag> parseTags(String value) throws JsonProcessingException {
-        JsonNode rawTags = mapper.readTree(value);
+        if (value == null || value.isEmpty())
+            return null;
+       String[] rawTags = value.split(", ");
         List<Tag> parsedTags = new LinkedList<>();
-        if (rawTags.isArray()) {
-            for (int i = 0; i < rawTags.size(); i++) {
-                parsedTags.add(new Tag(rawTags.get(i).textValue(), rawTags.get(i).textValue()));
-            }
-        } else if (rawTags.isTextual()){
-            List<String> tags = Arrays.asList(rawTags.textValue().split(", "));
-            parsedTags.addAll(tags.stream().map(s -> new Tag(s, s)).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+        for (String rawTag : rawTags) {
+            parsedTags.add(new Tag(rawTag, rawTag));
         }
         return parsedTags;
     }