diff --git a/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java b/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
index de20ff2d..3f5720e1 100644
--- a/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
+++ b/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
@@ -443,7 +443,12 @@ public class ItemTemplate {
             if (item_type.equals(Enum.ItemType.RUNE)) {
 
                 rune_type = (String) jsonObject.get("rune_type");
-                rune_sub_type = (String) jsonObject.get("rune_sub_type");
+
+                Object subType = jsonObject.get("rune_sub_type");
+
+                if (subType instanceof String)
+                    rune_sub_type = (String) subType;
+
                 rune_is_standard_character_creation = ((Boolean) jsonObject.get("rune_is_standard_character_creation"));
                 rune_creation_cost = ((Long) jsonObject.get("rune_creation_cost")).intValue();
                 rune_rank = ((Long) jsonObject.get("rune_rank")).intValue();