diff --git a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSearchRankingProfile.java b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSearchRankingProfile.java
index 95119a2a0..5d95dcd63 100644
--- a/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSearchRankingProfile.java
+++ b/source/de/anomic/plasma/plasmaSearchRankingProfile.java
@@ -141,7 +141,8 @@ public class plasmaSearchRankingProfile {
                 e = elts[i].trim();
                 if ((s == 0) || (e.startsWith(prefix))) {
                     p = e.indexOf("=");
-                    if (e.length() > p + 1) coeff.put(e.substring(s, p), new Integer(Integer.parseInt(e.substring(p + 1))));
+                    if (p < 0) System.out.println("DEBUG: bug in plasmaSearchRankingProfile: e = " + e);
+                    if ((p > 0) && (e.length() > p + 1)) coeff.put(e.substring(s, p), new Integer(Integer.parseInt(e.substring(p + 1))));
                 }
             }
             coeff_domlength          = parseMap(coeff, DOMLENGTH, coeff_domlength);