diff --git a/importexport/inc/class.importexport_helper_functions.inc.php b/importexport/inc/class.importexport_helper_functions.inc.php
index 4b587848d2..c044b9f5f8 100755
--- a/importexport/inc/class.importexport_helper_functions.inc.php
+++ b/importexport/inc/class.importexport_helper_functions.inc.php
@@ -148,6 +148,11 @@ class importexport_helper_functions {
 		$cat_names = is_array( $_cat_names ) ? $_cat_names : explode( ',', $_cat_names );
 		foreach ( $cat_names as $cat_name ) {
 			if ( $cat_name == '' ) continue;
+			// Handle any IDs that slip in
+			if ( is_numeric($cat_name) && categories::id2name((int)$cat_name)) {
+				$cat_ids[] = (int)$cat_name;
+				continue;
+			}
 			if ( ( $cat_id = $cats->name2id( $cat_name ) ) == 0 ) {
 				$cat_id = $cats->add( array(
 					'name' => $cat_name,