diff --git a/samples/features/sql-big-data-cluster/spark/sparkml/train_score_export_ml_models_with_spark.ipynb b/samples/features/sql-big-data-cluster/spark/sparkml/train_score_export_ml_models_with_spark.ipynb
index ad799a52..92e847aa 100644
--- a/samples/features/sql-big-data-cluster/spark/sparkml/train_score_export_ml_models_with_spark.ipynb
+++ b/samples/features/sql-big-data-cluster/spark/sparkml/train_score_export_ml_models_with_spark.ipynb
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@
                 "        featureCols.append(key)\r\n",
                 "\r\n",
                 "# string-index the label column into a column named \"label\"\r\n",
-                "si_label = StringIndexer(inputCol=label, outputCol='label')\r\n",
+                "si_label = StringIndexer(inputCol=label, outputCol='label').setHandleInvalid("skip")\r\n",
                 "\r\n",
                 "# assemble the encoded feature columns in to a column named \"features\"\r\n",
                 "assembler = VectorAssembler(inputCols=featureCols, outputCol=\"features\")\r\n",