diff --git a/src/core/js/caosdb.js b/src/core/js/caosdb.js
index 142a82552397e6a19f9ac00d6961e8679216a006..fe8f0cba5e5795a23615650bf5516c344e012d54 100644
--- a/src/core/js/caosdb.js
+++ b/src/core/js/caosdb.js
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ function getPropertyFromElement(propertyelement, names = undefined) {
     // name
     property.name = getPropertyName(propertyelement);
     // description
-    property.description = desc ? desc.textContent : undefined;
+    property.description = descel ? descel.textContent : undefined;
 
 
     // id