diff --git a/src/MUIDataTable.js b/src/MUIDataTable.js
index e9330aaf2..e0c248732 100644
--- a/src/MUIDataTable.js
+++ b/src/MUIDataTable.js
@@ -441,22 +441,24 @@ class MUIDataTable extends React.Component {
   };
 
   transformData = (columns, data) => {
-    const leaf = (obj, path) => path.split('.').reduce((value, el) => {
-      if (typeof value[el] === 'object') throw Error(`Cannot accept objects for cell data from field "${el}". Cells need to contain strings | numbers. It\'s possible this error is the result of a missing dot in the column name field (e.g. name: "company" instead of name: "company.id")`);
-      return value ? value[el] : undefined;
-    }, obj);
+    const leaf = (obj, path) => path.split('.').reduce((value, el) => (value ? value[el] : undefined), obj);
 
-    return Array.isArray(data[0])
+    const transformedData = Array.isArray(data[0])
       ? data.map(row => {
           let i = -1;
 
           return columns.map(col => {
             if (!col.empty) i++;
-            if (typeof row[i] === 'object') throw Error(`Cannot accept objects for cell data. Cells need to contain strings | numbers. It\'s possible this error is the result of a missing dot in the column name field (e.g. name: "company" instead of name: "company.id")`);
             return col.empty ? undefined : row[i];
           });
         })
       : data.map(row => columns.map(col => leaf(row, col.name)));
+
+      // We need to determine if object data exists in the transformed structure, as this is currently not allowed
+      const hasInvalidData = transformedData.filter(data => data.filter(d => typeof d === 'object' && d !== null && !Array.isArray(d)).length > 0).length > 0;
+      if (hasInvalidData) throw Error(`Cannot accept objects for cell data. Cells need to contain strings | numbers. It\'s possible this error is the result of a missing dot in the column name field (e.g. name: "company" instead of name: "company.id")`);
+
+      return transformedData;
   };
 
   setTableData(props, status, callback = () => {}) {