diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/RecordDriver/Feature/MarcReaderTrait.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/RecordDriver/Feature/MarcReaderTrait.php
index cc15cf362d3..bc2f3081af8 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/RecordDriver/Feature/MarcReaderTrait.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/RecordDriver/Feature/MarcReaderTrait.php
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ public function getRawMarcData()
                 break;
             }
         }
+        if (empty($this->fields[$preferredMarcField])) {
+            throw new \Exception('Missing MARC data in record ' . $this->getUniqueId());
+        }
         return trim($this->fields[$preferredMarcField]);
     }