diff --git a/SabreTools.Library/DatFiles/FilterItem.cs b/SabreTools.Library/DatFiles/FilterItem.cs
index 90f7f4cf..6b6b7968 100644
--- a/SabreTools.Library/DatFiles/FilterItem.cs
+++ b/SabreTools.Library/DatFiles/FilterItem.cs
@@ -155,15 +155,13 @@ namespace SabreTools.Library.DatFiles
                 {
                     string needleString = needle as string;
                     string strawString = straw as string;
-                    if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strawString))
+                    if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strawString) && needleString != null)
                     {
                         string regexStraw = strawString;
 
                         // If the straw has no special characters at all, treat it as an exact match
                         if (regexStraw == Regex.Escape(regexStraw))
-                        {
                             regexStraw = "^" + regexStraw + "$";
-                        }
 
                         // Check if a match is found with the regex
                         found |= Regex.IsMatch(needleString, regexStraw, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.CultureInvariant);