diff --git a/typo3/sysext/backend/Classes/View/PageLayoutViewDrawEmptyColposContent.php b/typo3/sysext/backend/Classes/View/PageLayoutViewDrawEmptyColposContent.php
index 681d0f41deecb576282ac171dccc74d0bceb5fa9..cc461f6f338af9b238bd8ffa6746df6900c771b4 100644
--- a/typo3/sysext/backend/Classes/View/PageLayoutViewDrawEmptyColposContent.php
+++ b/typo3/sysext/backend/Classes/View/PageLayoutViewDrawEmptyColposContent.php
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class PageLayoutViewDrawEmptyColposContent
     {
         if (
             !isset($event->getColumnConfig()['colPos'])
-            || trim($event->getColumnConfig()['colPos']) === ''
+            || trim((string)$event->getColumnConfig()['colPos']) === ''
         ) {
             $content = $event->getContent();
             $content .= <<<EOD