diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ab1be35911..372106f6a3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Null values in first column of first row of ingested data no longer cause flowetl to skip ingestion [#5090](https://github.com/Flowminder/FlowKit/issues/5090)
+
 ## [1.18.2]
 
 ## Fixed
diff --git a/flowetl/flowetl/flowetl/sensors/data_present_sensor.py b/flowetl/flowetl/flowetl/sensors/data_present_sensor.py
index b808c9fd12..467dd9b7c5 100644
--- a/flowetl/flowetl/flowetl/sensors/data_present_sensor.py
+++ b/flowetl/flowetl/flowetl/sensors/data_present_sensor.py
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@
 
 DataPresentSensor = fixed_sql_operator(
     class_name="DataPresentSensor",
-    sql="SELECT * FROM {{ staging_table }} LIMIT 1;",
+    sql="SELECT EXISTS(SELECT * FROM {{ staging_table }} LIMIT 1);",
     is_sensor=True,
 )