diff --git a/protocol/communities/persistence.go b/protocol/communities/persistence.go
index f15d7a54c..10267394b 100644
--- a/protocol/communities/persistence.go
+++ b/protocol/communities/persistence.go
@@ -591,6 +591,9 @@ func (p *Persistence) GetPermissionTokenCriteriaResult(permissionID string, comm
 
 	criteria := make([]bool, 0)
 	for _, r := range strings.Split(criteriaString, ",") {
+		if r == "" {
+			continue
+		}
 		val, err := strconv.ParseBool(r)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err