diff --git a/lib/GEODE/Metadata/Contrastive.hs b/lib/GEODE/Metadata/Contrastive.hs
index f6149ce9c2b0a347d5d3a87ad0c111de5f7b19a2..4d95d964434995926245e7d83ce94113851d707f 100644
--- a/lib/GEODE/Metadata/Contrastive.hs
+++ b/lib/GEODE/Metadata/Contrastive.hs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ instance FromField MultiText where
         pure (firstChar,middle,lastChar)
       checkAndSplit t =
         case popBoundaries t of
+          Just (':',"",':') -> pure $ MultiText []
           Just (':',fields,':') -> pure.MultiText $ splitOn ":" fields
           _ -> mempty