diff --git a/processing/post/averageDown.py b/processing/post/averageDown.py
index 30bf292a9..1e845347e 100755
--- a/processing/post/averageDown.py
+++ b/processing/post/averageDown.py
@@ -59,12 +59,13 @@ for file in files:
 
 # --------------- figure out size and grid ---------------------------------------------------------
   try:
+    elemCol = table.labels.index('elem')
     locationCol = table.labels.index('1_%s'%options.coords)                                         # columns containing location data
   except ValueError:
     try:
       locationCol = table.labels.index('%s.x'%options.coords)                                       # columns containing location data (legacy naming scheme)
     except ValueError:
-      file['croak'].write('no coordinate data (1_%s/%s.x) found...\n'%(options.coords,options.coords))
+      file['croak'].write('no coordinate (1_%s/%s.x) and/or elem data found...\n'%(options.coords,options.coords))
       continue
 
   if (any(options.grid)==0 or any(options.size)==0.0):