diff --git a/parser/gcp/GCP_Interface.hpp b/parser/gcp/GCP_Interface.hpp
index 6c9ec6f..30bdc28 100644
--- a/parser/gcp/GCP_Interface.hpp
+++ b/parser/gcp/GCP_Interface.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "ParserInterface.hpp"
 
 #include <memory>
+#include <string>
 
 namespace NCBI
 {
diff --git a/parser/gcp/gcp2jsn.cpp b/parser/gcp/gcp2jsn.cpp
index 267273a..b32c06e 100644
--- a/parser/gcp/gcp2jsn.cpp
+++ b/parser/gcp/gcp2jsn.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 using namespace NCBI::Logging;
 
-std::string tool_version( "1.1.0" );
+std::string tool_version( "1.1.1" );
 
 int main ( int argc, char * argv [], const char * envp []  )
 {
diff --git a/parser/gcp/gcp_parser.y b/parser/gcp/gcp_parser.y
index 8ee4d05..34b3922 100644
--- a/parser/gcp/gcp_parser.y
+++ b/parser/gcp/gcp_parser.y
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ ip_region
 
 method
     : QUOTE QSTR QUOTE      { $$ = $2; lib->set( GCPReceiver::method, $2 ); }
+    | QUOTE QUOTE           { lib->set( GCPReceiver::method, EmptyTSTR ); }
     ;
 
 status
diff --git a/parser/gcp/gcp_test_parse.cpp b/parser/gcp/gcp_test_parse.cpp
index 241538f..50f4b49 100644
--- a/parser/gcp/gcp_test_parse.cpp
+++ b/parser/gcp/gcp_test_parse.cpp
@@ -313,6 +313,13 @@ TEST_F( GCPTestFixture, header_bad )
     ASSERT_NE( "", s );
 }
 
+TEST_F( GCPTestFixture, VDB_5563 )
+{   // allow empty method
+    string res = try_to_parse_good(
+"\"1714445214573584\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"200\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"GCS Lifecycle Management\",\"d8c3fedc1503d12e1e1b797027e52ed3\",\"\",\"sra-pub-crun-7\",\"\"" );
+    ASSERT_NE( "", res );
+}
+
 extern "C"
 {
     int main ( int argc, const char * argv [], const char * envp []  )