diff --git a/djangoldp/serializers.py b/djangoldp/serializers.py
index fc457dd8a6e162153c10091c3e1002b04ac0dffa..c7489448730e99bc79a31903ff7ae000f9ffd3a7 100644
--- a/djangoldp/serializers.py
+++ b/djangoldp/serializers.py
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ from rest_framework.utils.serializer_helpers import ReturnDict
 class LDListMixin:
     def to_internal_value(self, data):
         # data = json.loads(data)
-        data = data['ldp:contains']
+        try:
+            data = data['ldp:contains']
+        except TypeError:
+            pass
         if isinstance(data, dict):
             data = [data]
         return [self.child.to_internal_value(item) for item in data]