diff --git a/app/migrations/0003_auto_20170615_1300.py b/app/migrations/0003_auto_20170615_1300.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..336528ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/migrations/0003_auto_20170615_1300.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Generated by Django 1.11.1 on 2017-06-15 17:00
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('app', '0002_task_auto_processing_node'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='project',
+            name='description',
+            field=models.TextField(blank=True, default='', help_text='More in-depth description of the project'),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/app/models.py b/app/models.py
index 10023cdc..9f0f89e6 100644
--- a/app/models.py
+++ b/app/models.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def assets_directory_path(taskId, projectId, filename):
 class Project(models.Model):
     owner = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.PROTECT, help_text="The person who created the project")
     name = models.CharField(max_length=255, help_text="A label used to describe the project")
-    description = models.TextField(null=True, blank=True, help_text="More in-depth description of the project")
+    description = models.TextField(default="", blank=True, help_text="More in-depth description of the project")
     created_at = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now, help_text="Creation date")
     deleting = models.BooleanField(db_index=True, default=False, help_text="Whether this project has been marked for deletion. Projects that have running tasks need to wait for tasks to be properly cleaned up before they can be deleted.")
 
diff --git a/app/static/app/js/components/FormDialog.jsx b/app/static/app/js/components/FormDialog.jsx
index 9f0163fc..6b8a3622 100644
--- a/app/static/app/js/components/FormDialog.jsx
+++ b/app/static/app/js/components/FormDialog.jsx
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class FormDialog extends React.Component {
         if (this.props.getFormData) formData = this.props.getFormData();
 
         this.props.saveAction(formData).fail(e => {
-            this.setState({error: e.message || e.responseText || "Could not apply changes"});
+            this.setState({error: e.message || (e.responseJSON || {}).detail || e.responseText || "Could not apply changes"});
         }).always(() => {
             this.setState({saving: false});
         }).done(() => {
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@ class FormDialog extends React.Component {
                 this.setState({deleting: true});
                 this.props.deleteAction()
                     .fail(e => {
-                        this.setState({error: e.message || e.responseText || "Could not delete item", deleting: false});
+                        console.log(e);
+                        this.setState({error: e.message || (e.responseJSON || {}).detail || e.responseText || "Could not delete item", deleting: false});
                     });
             }
         }