diff --git a/src/XmlConfig.cpp b/src/XmlConfig.cpp
index 8ad0eadeadf30ead3d8280832aaff6091baa7a6a..b614c4d0a4960084539791a91a0d0d26d4fd0241 100644
--- a/src/XmlConfig.cpp
+++ b/src/XmlConfig.cpp
@@ -364,9 +364,12 @@ std::string XmlConfig::convert(const std::string& filename)
 
 			counter++;
 		}
-		pfs << "[Tail]" << endl;
 		xml_node tail = packet.child("tail");
-		_writeFields(tail, pfs);
+		if(tail)
+		{
+			pfs << "[Tail]" << endl;
+			_writeFields(tail, pfs);
+		}
 
 		// if not defined in the header find in datafieldheader
 		int algindex = 0;