diff --git a/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21Encoder.java b/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21Encoder.java
index 338795696..db0839de8 100644
--- a/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21Encoder.java
+++ b/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21Encoder.java
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ private void startField(final String name) {
 
     @Override
     public void endEntity() {
-        builder.endDataField();
+        if (state.equals(State.IN_FIELD_ENTITY)) {
+            builder.endDataField();
+        }
         state = State.IN_RECORD;
     }
 
diff --git a/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21EncoderTest.java b/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21EncoderTest.java
index 411cdd3a2..8317581ad 100644
--- a/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21EncoderTest.java
+++ b/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/Marc21EncoderTest.java
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
  */
 package org.metafacture.biblio.marc21;
 
+import static org.metafacture.biblio.marc21.Marc21EventNames.LEADER_ENTITY;
+import static org.metafacture.biblio.marc21.Marc21EventNames.RECORD_STATUS_LITERAL;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.matches;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
@@ -35,8 +37,6 @@
  */
 public final class Marc21EncoderTest {
 
-    private static final String LEADER_LITERAL = "leader";
-
     private Marc21Encoder marc21Encoder;
 
     @Mock
@@ -102,4 +102,15 @@ public void issue231ShouldIgnoreTypeLiterals() {
         verify(receiver).process(any(String.class));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void issue278ShouldNotFailWhenProcessingLeaderEntity() {
+        marc21Encoder.startRecord("");
+        marc21Encoder.startEntity(LEADER_ENTITY);
+        marc21Encoder.literal(RECORD_STATUS_LITERAL, "a");
+        marc21Encoder.endEntity();
+        marc21Encoder.endRecord();
+
+        verify(receiver).process(any(String.class));
+    }
+
 }