diff --git a/neo/rawio/bci2000rawio.py b/neo/rawio/bci2000rawio.py
index d4762b826..740502c1a 100644
--- a/neo/rawio/bci2000rawio.py
+++ b/neo/rawio/bci2000rawio.py
@@ -40,8 +40,7 @@ def _parse_header(self):
 
         sig_channels = []
         for chan_ix in range(file_info['SourceCh']):
-            ch_name = param_defs['ChannelNames']['value'][chan_ix] \
-                if 'ChannelNames' in param_defs else 'ch' + str(chan_ix)
+            ch_name = param_defs['ChannelNames']['value'][chan_ix] if ('ChannelNames' in param_defs and (param_defs['ChannelNames']['value'] is not np.nan) and len(param_defs['ChannelNames']['value']) > chan_ix) else 'ch' + str(chan_ix)
             chan_id = chan_ix + 1
             sr = param_defs['SamplingRate']['value']  # Hz
             dtype = file_info['DataFormat']