diff --git a/misc-scripts/assembly/exon_conservation_check.pl b/misc-scripts/assembly/exon_conservation_check.pl
index b8ce963d391b836cc27ae29a09f5a8b959f66139..fb6d65bbd57845a1579c46bea442772a22d04214 100644
--- a/misc-scripts/assembly/exon_conservation_check.pl
+++ b/misc-scripts/assembly/exon_conservation_check.pl
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ sub transcript {
     $location = sprintf('%d : %d', $projected_transcript->start(), $projected_transcript->end());
   }
   else {
-    $state        = '**';
+    $state        = 'XX';
     $location     = 'None';
     $total_length = 0;
     $difference   = 0;