diff --git a/src/caosdb/common/datatype.py b/src/caosdb/common/datatype.py
index f40b79f9819ea74461f8fcf7135f9baff69ac526..8578574af6cc874550ca3d4a53ab90cd3946e87a 100644
--- a/src/caosdb/common/datatype.py
+++ b/src/caosdb/common/datatype.py
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 # ** header v3.0
 # This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
 #
+# Copyright (C) 2020 IndiScale GmbH
 # Copyright (C) 2020 Henrik tom Wörden, IndiScale GmbH
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Daniel Hornung (d.hornung@indiscale.com)
 #
 # This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ def LIST(datatype):
 
 def get_list_datatype(datatype):
     """ returns the datatype of the elements in the list """
-    match = re.match("LIST(<|&lt;)(?P<datatype>.*)(>|&gt;)", "LISTING")
+    match = re.match("LIST(<|&lt;)(?P<datatype>.*)(>|&gt;)", datatype)
 
     if match is not None:
         return match.group("datatype")
@@ -65,7 +67,6 @@ def is_reference(datatype):
     """
 
     if datatype in [DOUBLE, BOOLEAN, INTEGER, TEXT, DATETIME]:
-
         return False
     elif is_list_datatype(datatype):
         return is_reference(get_list_datatype(datatype))
diff --git a/unittests/test_datatype.py b/unittests/test_datatype.py
index 5a543100c8617374e0f075abf3adbdb2f8044129..84f3ac7fd77e0f3fda464c5377b682ae67bd54e4 100644
--- a/unittests/test_datatype.py
+++ b/unittests/test_datatype.py
@@ -1,5 +1,33 @@
-from caosdb import LIST
+# ** header v3.0
+# This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2020 IndiScale GmbH
+# Copyright (c) 2020 Daniel Hornung (d.hornung@indiscale.com)
+#
+# 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
+from caosdb.common import datatype
 
 
 def test_list():
-    assert LIST("RT") == "LIST<RT>"
+    assert db.LIST("RT") == "LIST<RT>"
+
+
+def test_list_utilites():
+    """Test for example if get_list_datatype works."""
+    dtype = db.LIST(db.INTEGER)
+    assert datatype.get_list_datatype(dtype) == db.INTEGER