diff --git a/app/Helpers/Collector/Extensions/MetaCollection.php b/app/Helpers/Collector/Extensions/MetaCollection.php
index 95372f6963..0fef0ff2c0 100644
--- a/app/Helpers/Collector/Extensions/MetaCollection.php
+++ b/app/Helpers/Collector/Extensions/MetaCollection.php
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ trait MetaCollection
 
         $this->joinMetaDataTables();
         $this->query->where('journal_meta.name', '=', 'internal_reference');
-        $this->query->where('journal_meta.data', '=', $internalReference);
+        $this->query->where('journal_meta.data', '=', sprintf('%s', json_encode($internalReference)));
 
         return $this;
     }