diff --git a/R/box.R b/R/box.R
index 7783cae..5824f9f 100644
--- a/R/box.R
+++ b/R/box.R
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ osem_boxes = function (exposure = NA, model = NA, grouptag = NA,
   else if (!is.na(date))
     query$date = date_as_utc(date) %>% date_as_isostring()
 
+
   do.call(get_boxes_, query)
 }
 
@@ -167,6 +168,11 @@ parse_senseboxdata = function (boxdata) {
   if (!is.null(lastMeasurement))
     thebox$lastMeasurement = isostring_as_date(lastMeasurement)
 
+  # add empty sensortype to sensors without type
+  if(!('sensorType' %in% names(sensors[[1]]))) {
+    sensors[[1]]$sensorType <- NA
+  }
+
   # create a dataframe of sensors
   thebox$sensors = sensors %>%
     recursive_lapply(function (x) if (is.null(x)) NA else x) %>% # replace NULLs with NA