diff --git a/hepdata_converter/writers/root_writer.py b/hepdata_converter/writers/root_writer.py
index 2b6a1ec..ce06f9b 100644
--- a/hepdata_converter/writers/root_writer.py
+++ b/hepdata_converter/writers/root_writer.py
@@ -40,11 +40,15 @@ def match(cls, independent_variables_map, dependent_variable):
 
     def _create_empty_hist(self, dependent_var_title, index, yval):
 
+        is_number_list = self.is_number_var(self.dependent_variable)
+
         xval = []
         for i in xrange(self.dim):
             xval.append([])
             i_var = self.independent_variables[i]['values']
-            for x in i_var:
+            for ix, x in enumerate(i_var):
+                if not is_number_list[ix] and 'labels' not in self.independent_variables[i]:
+                    continue  # skip defining bins for non-numeric y values unless alphanumeric bin labels are present
                 if x['low'] not in xval[i]:
                     xval[i].append(x['low'])
                 if x['high'] not in xval[i]:
@@ -235,7 +239,9 @@ def create_objects(self):
         for i in xrange(self.dim):
             xval.append([])
             i_var = self.independent_variables[i]['values']
-            for x in i_var:
+            for ix, x in enumerate(i_var):
+                if not is_number_list[ix] and 'labels' not in self.independent_variables[i]:
+                    continue  # skip defining bins for non-numeric y values unless alphanumeric bin labels are present
                 if x['low'] not in xval[i]:
                     xval[i].append(x['low'])
                 if x['high'] not in xval[i]: