diff --git a/inception-ui-kb/src/main/java/de/tudarmstadt/ukp/inception/ui/kb/feature/ConceptFeatureEditor.java b/inception-ui-kb/src/main/java/de/tudarmstadt/ukp/inception/ui/kb/feature/ConceptFeatureEditor.java
index e3a63ffc809..4f043f3cc66 100644
--- a/inception-ui-kb/src/main/java/de/tudarmstadt/ukp/inception/ui/kb/feature/ConceptFeatureEditor.java
+++ b/inception-ui-kb/src/main/java/de/tudarmstadt/ukp/inception/ui/kb/feature/ConceptFeatureEditor.java
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ private List<KBHandle> getCandidates(IModel<AnnotatorState> aStateModel,
         String trimmedInput = input.trim();
         if (trimmedInput.length() > 2 && trimmedInput.startsWith("\"")
                 && trimmedInput.endsWith("\"")) {
-            input = StringUtils.substring(input, 1, -1);
+            input = StringUtils.substring(trimmedInput, 1, -1);
             labelFilter = true;
         }