diff --git a/gramps/gen/lib/eventref.py b/gramps/gen/lib/eventref.py
index b580f6d33cd..128f0f7bb85 100644
--- a/gramps/gen/lib/eventref.py
+++ b/gramps/gen/lib/eventref.py
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ def unserialize(self, data):
         """
         Convert a serialized tuple of data to an object.
         """
-        (privacy, citation_list, note_list, attribute_list, ref, role) = data
+        try:
+            (privacy, citation_list, note_list, attribute_list, ref, role) = data
+        except ValueError:
+            (privacy, note_list, attribute_list, ref, role) = data
+            citation_list = []
         PrivacyBase.unserialize(self, privacy)
         CitationBase.unserialize(self, citation_list)
         NoteBase.unserialize(self, note_list)