diff --git a/src/newcrawler/converters.py b/src/newcrawler/converters.py
index 3feb0a9955d1096b7a5625377fd1af9a4e18c2d4..94d50edcf493b857503ddc8edf6dc1f712a21020 100644
--- a/src/newcrawler/converters.py
+++ b/src/newcrawler/converters.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import os
 import re
 import caosdb as db
+from .utils import has_parent
 from .stores import GeneralStore, RecordStore
 from .structure_elements import (StructureElement, Directory, File,
                                  TextElement, DictTextElement, DictListElement)
@@ -183,9 +184,11 @@ class Converter(object):
 
             if "parents" in record:
                 for parent in record["parents"]:
-                    c_record.add_parent(name=parent)
+                    if not has_parent(c_record, parent):
+                        c_record.add_parent(parent)
             else:
-                c_record.add_parent(name=name)
+                if not has_parent(c_record, name):
+                    c_record.add_parent(name)
 
             for key, value in record.items():
                 if key == "parents":
diff --git a/src/newcrawler/utils.py b/src/newcrawler/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a04e896e85e749ba616c30cc450f15bb561dd6df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/newcrawler/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# ** header v3.0
+# This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2021 Henrik tom Wörden
+#               2021 Alexander Schlemmer
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# ** end header
+#
+
+import caosdb as db
+
+# Some utility functions, e.g. for extending pylib.
+
+def has_parent(entity: db.Entity, name: str):
+    """
+    A simple check, whether a parent with the given name exists.
+
+    There is a similar, however more complex function in package caosdb.
+    """
+
+    for parent in entity.parents:
+        if parent.name == name:
+            return True
+    return False