diff --git a/ui-eln-lims/src/core-plugins/eln-lims/1/as/webapps/eln-lims/html/js/util/JExcelEditorManager.js b/ui-eln-lims/src/core-plugins/eln-lims/1/as/webapps/eln-lims/html/js/util/JExcelEditorManager.js
index 1defaf7e411c24e28ecdbe559d1bfeb08180eb7a..0edb469ae0755f1ff6c37925790dbe0039c25185 100644
--- a/ui-eln-lims/src/core-plugins/eln-lims/1/as/webapps/eln-lims/html/js/util/JExcelEditorManager.js
+++ b/ui-eln-lims/src/core-plugins/eln-lims/1/as/webapps/eln-lims/html/js/util/JExcelEditorManager.js
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ var JExcelEditorManager = new function() {
 	}
 
 	this._isIdentifierCell = function(cellData) {
-	    if(!cellData || cellData == '') {
+	    if(!this._isString(cellData) || cellData == '') {
 	        return false;
 	    }
 	    var arr = cellData.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
@@ -288,6 +288,10 @@ var JExcelEditorManager = new function() {
         return false;
 	}
 
+	this._isString = function(value) {
+        return typeof value === 'string' || value instanceof String;
+	}
+
 	this._isIdentifier = function(data) {
         var split = data.split('/');
         return split[0] == '' && (split.length > 2 && split.length < 6);