diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/TagExtractor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/TagExtractor.cs
index 3e04517f80..0e6d605e41 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/TagExtractor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/TagExtractor.cs
@@ -85,8 +85,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Services
                                 try
                                 {
                                     var parsedJson = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<string>>(convertedPropertyValue.ToString());
-                                    //recurse with new value
-                                    SetPropertyTags(property, parsedJson, delimiter, replaceTags, tagGroup, valueType, storageType);
+                                    if (parsedJson != null)
+                                    {
+                                        //recurse with new value
+                                        SetPropertyTags(property, parsedJson, delimiter, replaceTags, tagGroup, valueType, storageType);   
+                                    }                                    
                                 }
                                 catch (Exception ex)
                                 {