diff --git a/examples/run_ner.py b/examples/run_ner.py
index a2937985ec..a1992d4df8 100644
--- a/examples/run_ner.py
+++ b/examples/run_ner.py
@@ -160,7 +160,10 @@ def train(args, train_dataset, model, tokenizer, labels, pad_token_label_id):
     # Check if continuing training from a checkpoint
     if os.path.exists(args.model_name_or_path):
         # set global_step to gobal_step of last saved checkpoint from model path
-        global_step = int(args.model_name_or_path.split("-")[-1].split("/")[0])
+        try:
+            global_step = int(args.model_name_or_path.split("-")[-1].split("/")[0])
+        except ValueError:
+            global_step = 0
         epochs_trained = global_step // (len(train_dataloader) // args.gradient_accumulation_steps)
         steps_trained_in_current_epoch = global_step % (len(train_dataloader) // args.gradient_accumulation_steps)