diff --git a/resultsFile/Modules/gamessFile.py b/resultsFile/Modules/gamessFile.py
index c7992d5..fa96f94 100755
--- a/resultsFile/Modules/gamessFile.py
+++ b/resultsFile/Modules/gamessFile.py
@@ -75,7 +75,9 @@ class gamessFile(resultsFile.resultsFileX):
          self.find_string("RUN TITLE")
          self.find_next_string("NORMF = ")
          pos = self._pos
-         self._normf = int(self.text[pos].split("=")[1].split()[0])
+         buffer = self.text[pos].split("=")
+         assert buffer[0].strip() == "NORMF"
+         self._normf = int(buffer[1].split()[0])
        except IndexError:
          pass
        return self._normf