     {
         var i:int;
         
-        if (sort)
+        if (localIndex && sort)
         {
             var startIndex:int = sort.findItem(localIndex, item, Sort.FIRST_INDEX_MODE);
             if (startIndex == -1)

     */
    mx_internal function findItem(values:Object, mode:String, insertIndex:Boolean = false):int
    {
        if (!sort)
        {
            var message:String = resourceManager.getString(
                "collections", "itemNotFound");


            return -1;
        }
        else if (localIndex && filterFunction != null)
        {
            var len:int = localIndex.length;
            for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
