diff --git a/@HierarchicalGrid/delete_cell.m b/@HierarchicalGrid/delete_cell.m
index 499ef6a0e009909e88552fd091cfe36131897c21..f21aa72f8caacd958f644e42fea915b9c4743ba9 100644
--- a/@HierarchicalGrid/delete_cell.m
+++ b/@HierarchicalGrid/delete_cell.m
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function delete_cell( object, beneath_cell, the_cell )
         rmgc = object.right_most_grid_cells;
         object.right_most_grid_cells = [rmgc(1:top_rmgi-1) rmgc(bottom_rmgi+1:size(rmgc, 2))];
         
-        if ~isempty(beneath_cell)
+        if ~isempty(beneath_cell) && size(beneath_cell.grid, 2) == 0
             rmgc = object.right_most_grid_cells
             object.right_most_grid_cells = [rmgc(1:top_rmgi-1) {beneath_cell} rmgc(top_rmgi:size(rmgc, 2))];
             top_rmgi = top_rmgi + 1;