diff --git a/src/core/js/caosdb.js b/src/core/js/caosdb.js
index 3ecbc58f54b5502c46ecb7e63e0d561eab68aee5..142a82552397e6a19f9ac00d6961e8679216a006 100644
--- a/src/core/js/caosdb.js
+++ b/src/core/js/caosdb.js
@@ -550,12 +550,13 @@ function getPropertyFromElement(propertyelement, names = undefined) {
     let dtel = propertyelement.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-property-datatype")[0];
     let idel = propertyelement.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-property-id")[0];
     let unitel = valel.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-unit")[0];
+    const descel = propertyelement.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-property-description")[0];
 
     property.html = propertyelement;
     // name
     property.name = getPropertyName(propertyelement);
     // description
-    property.description = propertyelement.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-property-description")[0];
+    property.description = desc ? desc.textContent : undefined;
 
 
     // id