diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 32811d39..906ddeb9 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Version 2.2.1 (2012-10-29 22:22:31) stable
+Version 2.2.1 (2012-10-29 22:25:15) stable
diff --git a/gluon/dal.py b/gluon/dal.py
index e458d677..1082aa1f 100644
--- a/gluon/dal.py
+++ b/gluon/dal.py
@@ -8653,7 +8653,7 @@ class Field(Expression):
 
     def formatter(self, value):
         requires = self.requires
-        if not requires:
+        if value is None or not requires:
             return value
         if not isinstance(requires, (list, tuple)):
             requires = [requires]