diff --git a/dcicutils/structured_data.py b/dcicutils/structured_data.py
index 4a95153ed..fa2ae7d52 100644
--- a/dcicutils/structured_data.py
+++ b/dcicutils/structured_data.py
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ def get_counts() -> Tuple[int, int]:
         order = {Schema.type_name(key): index for index, key in enumerate(self._order)} if self._order else {}
         for sheet_name in sorted(excel.sheet_names, key=lambda key: order.get(Schema.type_name(key), sys.maxsize)):
             self._load_reader(excel.sheet_reader(sheet_name), type_name=Schema.type_name(sheet_name))
-            if self._validator_sheet_hook:
+            if self._validator_sheet_hook and self.data.get(sheet_name):
                 self._validator_sheet_hook(self, sheet_name, self.data[sheet_name])
         # TODO: Do we really need progress reporting for the below?
         # Check for unresolved reference errors which really are not because of ordering.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index fcfbeccbe..3c928af98 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "dcicutils"
-version = "8.14.3.1b3"  # TODO: To become 8.14.4
+version = "8.14.3.1b4"  # TODO: To become 8.14.4
 description = "Utility package for interacting with the 4DN Data Portal and other 4DN resources"
 authors = ["4DN-DCIC Team <support@4dnucleome.org>"]
 license = "MIT"