Long-lived singlet states have been observed in the solution NMR of spin systems containing more than two coupled spins, despite the fact that the singlet state is expected to be quenched by small long-range J-couplings. We show that the stability of localized singlet states may be explained by taking into account the intra-pair J-coupling between the two spins which participate in the singlet state. The relatively strong intra-pair J-coupling protects the singlet state against quenching by weaker out-of-pair J-couplings.