diff --git a/gene_model/collapse_annotation.py b/gene_model/collapse_annotation.py
index c51ae239..e9afadb7 100644
--- a/gene_model/collapse_annotation.py
+++ b/gene_model/collapse_annotation.py
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ def __init__(self, gtfpath):
                 attributes = defaultdict(list)
                 for a in row[8].replace('"', '').replace('_biotype', '_type').split(';')[:-1]:
                     kv = a.strip().split(' ')
+                    if len(kv) < 2:
+                        continue
                     if kv[0]!='tag':
                         attributes[kv[0]] = kv[1]
                     else: