diff --git a/rdmo/projects/answers.py b/rdmo/projects/answers.py
index a85a0ce7c6..50c5c873be 100644
--- a/rdmo/projects/answers.py
+++ b/rdmo/projects/answers.py
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ def compute_element_node(self, element, parent_set=None):
 
             # find the first element
             if element_type in self.verbose:
-                element_node['first'] = element_node['elements'][0]['id']
+                if element_node['elements']:
+                    element_node['first'] = element_node['elements'][0]['id']
 
             # aggregate count and total from the child elements
             element_node['count'] = sum(child_node['count'] for child_node in element_node['elements'])