diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dc0c43feb..fd497150e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Upcoming
 
+### Fixes
+* Fixed issue where the description check failed if the description was a list. [#535](https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/nwbinspector/pull/535)
+
+
 # v0.6.0
 
 ### Deprecation
diff --git a/src/nwbinspector/checks/_general.py b/src/nwbinspector/checks/_general.py
index f9b0b9563..1eefd1a65 100644
--- a/src/nwbinspector/checks/_general.py
+++ b/src/nwbinspector/checks/_general.py
@@ -25,9 +25,13 @@ def check_description(neurodata_object: object) -> Optional[InspectorMessage]:
     """
     if not hasattr(neurodata_object, "description"):
         return None
-    if neurodata_object.description is None or neurodata_object.description.strip(" ") == "":
+
+    description = neurodata_object.description
+    if description is not None and type(description) is not str:
+        return None
+    if description is None or description.strip(" ") == "":
         return InspectorMessage(message="Description is missing.")
-    if neurodata_object.description.lower().strip(".") in COMMON_DESCRIPTION_PLACEHOLDERS:
-        return InspectorMessage(message=f"Description ('{neurodata_object.description}') is a placeholder.")
+    if description.lower().strip(".") in COMMON_DESCRIPTION_PLACEHOLDERS:
+        return InspectorMessage(message=f"Description ('{description}') is a placeholder.")
 
     return None
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_general.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_general.py
index 10ebc6551..d386ad612 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_general.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_general.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from hdmf.common import DynamicTable
+from hdmf.common import DynamicTable, DynamicTableRegion
 
 from nwbinspector import Importance, InspectorMessage
 from nwbinspector.checks import check_description, check_name_slashes
@@ -50,3 +50,25 @@ def test_check_description_missing():
         object_name="test",
         location="/",
     )
+
+
+def test_check_description_feature_extraction():
+    import numpy as np
+    from pynwb.ecephys import FeatureExtraction
+    from pynwb.testing.mock.ecephys import mock_ElectrodeTable
+
+    electrodes = mock_ElectrodeTable()
+
+    dynamic_table_region = DynamicTableRegion(
+        name="electrodes", description="I am wrong", data=[0, 1, 2, 3, 4], table=electrodes
+    )
+
+    feature_extraction = FeatureExtraction(
+        name="PCA_features",
+        electrodes=dynamic_table_region,
+        description=["PC1", "PC2", "PC3", "PC4"],
+        times=[0.033, 0.066, 0.099],
+        features=np.random.rand(3, 5, 4),  # time, channel, feature
+    )
+
+    assert check_description(neurodata_object=feature_extraction) is None