diff --git a/main/src/com/google/refine/importers/TabularImportingParserBase.java b/main/src/com/google/refine/importers/TabularImportingParserBase.java
index 0ae49b732..416e8b813 100644
--- a/main/src/com/google/refine/importers/TabularImportingParserBase.java
+++ b/main/src/com/google/refine/importers/TabularImportingParserBase.java
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ abstract public class TabularImportingParserBase extends ImportingParserBase {
                                 rowHasData = true;
                             } else if (!storeBlankCellsAsNulls) {
                                 row.setCell(column.getCellIndex(), new Cell("", null));
+                            } else {
+                                row.setCell(column.getCellIndex(), null);
                             }
                         }