diff --git a/edpop_explorer/readers/stcn.py b/edpop_explorer/readers/stcn.py
index bdc10c1..9ccc0ec 100644
--- a/edpop_explorer/readers/stcn.py
+++ b/edpop_explorer/readers/stcn.py
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ def _remove_markup(input_str: str) -> str:
 
 
 def safeget(dictionary: Optional[dict], attribute_chain: tuple, first: bool = False):
+    """Safely get a (nested) attribute in a JSON-like structure. If the
+    result is a list and ``first`` is ``True``, return the first item
+    of the list."""
     if len(attribute_chain) == 0:
         raise ValueError("The attribute_chain argument cannot be empty")
     attribute = attribute_chain[0]
diff --git a/tests/readers/test_stcn.py b/tests/readers/test_stcn.py
index ab6b45c..4a5ab51 100644
--- a/tests/readers/test_stcn.py
+++ b/tests/readers/test_stcn.py
@@ -38,4 +38,9 @@ def test_safeget_nested_second_attribute_nonexistent():
         "attribute": {
             "other_attribute": "value"
         }
-    }, ("attribute", "attribute2")) is None
\ No newline at end of file
+    }, ("attribute", "attribute2")) is None
+
+def test_safeget_first():
+    assert safeget({
+        "attribute": ["value1", "value2"]
+    }, ("attribute",), True) == "value1"
\ No newline at end of file