diff --git a/workflow/apps/matlab/easy/EASYconsole.m b/workflow/apps/matlab/easy/EASYconsole.m
index d03bf087..b7aa375d 100644
--- a/workflow/apps/matlab/easy/EASYconsole.m
+++ b/workflow/apps/matlab/easy/EASYconsole.m
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ function varargout = EASYconsole(varargin)
     };
     for i=1:length(dirsToScan)
       d=dirsToScan(i);
-      if exist(d, 'dir')
+      if exist(char(d), 'dir')
         subDirs=dir(d);
         pattern='^\d{6}_.*_.*';
         matchedDirs={dirs(regexp(subDirs.name, pattern)).name};