diff --git a/src/main/java/org/tdl/vireo/model/repo/impl/SubmissionRepoImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/tdl/vireo/model/repo/impl/SubmissionRepoImpl.java
index 48956142a1..0549272625 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/tdl/vireo/model/repo/impl/SubmissionRepoImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/tdl/vireo/model/repo/impl/SubmissionRepoImpl.java
@@ -798,6 +798,8 @@ public int compare(SubmissionListColumn svc1, SubmissionListColumn svc2) {
 
                         if (filterString == null) {
                             sqlBuilder.append("a.email IS NULL");
+                        } else if (filterString.equalsIgnoreCase("null")) {
+                            sqlBuilder.append("a.email IS NULL");
                         } else if (submissionListColumn.getExactMatch()) {
                             sqlBuilder.append("a.email = '").append(filterString).append("'");
                         } else {