diff --git a/app/controllers/universal_tables_controller.rb b/app/controllers/universal_tables_controller.rb
index d73249f..a773d47 100644
--- a/app/controllers/universal_tables_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/universal_tables_controller.rb
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ class UniversalTablesController < ApplicationController
 					if tc.make_categorizable
 						select_values = tc.column_entries.distinct("text.#{I18n.locale.to_s}")
 						form_field = "#{csrf_input}<select class=\"form-control\" name=\"q[#{field_key}]\">"
+						if field_value.nil?
+							select_values.insert(0, "")
+						end
 						select_values.each do |sv|
 							if field_value && sv == field_value
 								selected = " selected"
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ class UniversalTablesController < ApplicationController
 					if tc.make_categorizable
 						select_values = tc.column_entries.distinct(:number)
 						form_field = "#{csrf_input}<select class=\"form-control\" name=\"q[#{field_key}]\">"
+						if field_value.nil?
+							select_values.insert(0, "")
+						end
 						select_values.each do |sv|
 							if field_value && sv == field_value
 								selected = " selected"