diff --git a/app/models/spreadsheet.py b/app/models/spreadsheet.py
index ece8e9b11..4df7a0c1b 100644
--- a/app/models/spreadsheet.py
+++ b/app/models/spreadsheet.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class Spreadsheet:
     @staticmethod
     def normalise_newlines(file_content):
         rows = file_content.read().decode("utf-8").splitlines()
-        if rows.get(0) is None or rows[0] == "":
+        if len(rows) == 0 or rows[0] is None or rows[0] == "":
             raise Exception("No header row")
         return "\r\n".join(rows)