diff --git a/C4/Koha.pm b/C4/Koha.pm
index aac05c76f9..c08ee6ad44 100644
--- a/C4/Koha.pm
+++ b/C4/Koha.pm
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ sub GetNormalizedOCLCNumber {
         my @fields = $marcrecord->field('035');
         foreach my $field (@fields) {
             my $oclc = $field->subfield('a');
-            if ($oclc =~ /OCoLC/) {
+            if ($oclc && $oclc =~ /OCoLC/) {
                 $oclc =~ s/\(OCoLC\)//;
                 return $oclc;
             }