diff --git a/components/esm3/cellref.cpp b/components/esm3/cellref.cpp
index 733274619e..1e0dffb92b 100644
--- a/components/esm3/cellref.cpp
+++ b/components/esm3/cellref.cpp
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ namespace ESM
         else
         {
             if (isSet() && !hasContentFile())
-                Log(Debug::Error) << "Generated RefNum can not be saved in 32bit format";
+                throw std::runtime_error("Generated RefNum can not be saved in 32bit format");
             int refNum = (mIndex & 0xffffff) | ((hasContentFile() ? mContentFile : 0xff) << 24);
             esm.writeHNT(tag, refNum, 4);
         }