diff --git a/server-application-server/source/java/ch/ethz/sis/openbis/generic/server/xls/importer/delay/DelayedExecutionDecorator.java b/server-application-server/source/java/ch/ethz/sis/openbis/generic/server/xls/importer/delay/DelayedExecutionDecorator.java
index 4d64ce2362504b7167630244618e6855d2b25892..b67fb2fb56570b5e595f56bebbf0c27ba54f85b4 100644
--- a/server-application-server/source/java/ch/ethz/sis/openbis/generic/server/xls/importer/delay/DelayedExecutionDecorator.java
+++ b/server-application-server/source/java/ch/ethz/sis/openbis/generic/server/xls/importer/delay/DelayedExecutionDecorator.java
@@ -480,6 +480,11 @@ public class DelayedExecutionDecorator
     public void createSample(String variable, SampleCreation sampleCreation, int page, int line)
     {
         ISampleId sampleId = ImportUtils.buildSampleIdentifier(variable, sampleCreation);
+        if (sampleId instanceof IdentifierVariable && variable == null)
+        {
+            variable = ((IdentifierVariable) sampleId).getVariable();
+        }
+
         List<IObjectId> dependencies = new ArrayList<>();
 
         ISpaceId spaceId = sampleCreation.getSpaceId();