diff --git a/src/mol-model-formats/structure/mmcif/parser.ts b/src/mol-model-formats/structure/mmcif/parser.ts
index 1230ad95424d314524f358ed72e8b110b8c3559c..17d4f3a5b5fa0f92dbf1d1965d314c0256fe2418 100644
--- a/src/mol-model-formats/structure/mmcif/parser.ts
+++ b/src/mol-model-formats/structure/mmcif/parser.ts
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ async function readIHM(ctx: RuntimeContext, format: mmCIF_Format, formatData: Fo
     const { ihm_model_list } = format.data;
     const entities: Entities = { data: format.data.entity, getEntityIndex: Column.createIndexer(format.data.entity.id) };
 
-    if (!format.data.atom_site.ihm_model_id.isDefined) {
+    if (format.data.atom_site._rowCount && !format.data.atom_site.ihm_model_id.isDefined) {
         throw new Error('expected _atom_site.ihm_model_id to be defined')
     }