diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/notes/api.py b/lms/djangoapps/notes/api.py
index bb6ca9d26a..de23f78819 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/notes/api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/notes/api.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
 from django.http import HttpResponse, Http404
-from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError 
+from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 
 from notes.models import Note
 from notes.utils import notes_enabled_for_course
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/notes/models.py b/lms/djangoapps/notes/models.py
index 7d9ac75458..7c9db7dc28 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/notes/models.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/notes/models.py
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ class Note(models.Model):
     uri = models.CharField(max_length=1024, db_index=True)
     text = models.TextField(default="")
     quote = models.TextField(default="")
-    range_start = models.CharField(max_length=2048) # xpath string
+    range_start = models.CharField(max_length=2048)  # xpath string
     range_start_offset = models.IntegerField()
-    range_end = models.CharField(max_length=2048) # xpath string
+    range_end = models.CharField(max_length=2048)  # xpath string
     range_end_offset = models.IntegerField()
     tags = models.TextField(default="")  # comma-separated string
     created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, null=True, db_index=True)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/notes/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/notes/views.py
index cf125781d0..654d7fb31d 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/notes/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/notes/views.py
@@ -16,11 +16,9 @@ def notes(request, course_id):
         raise Http404
 
     notes = Note.objects.filter(course_id=course_id, user=request.user).order_by('-created', 'uri')
-    json_notes = json.dumps([n.as_dict() for n in notes])
     context = {
         'course': course,
-        'notes': notes,
-        'json_notes': json_notes
+        'notes': notes
     }
 
     return render_to_response('notes.html', context)
diff --git a/lms/templates/notes.html b/lms/templates/notes.html
index 8884fe2ded..3fea6faa3e 100644
--- a/lms/templates/notes.html
+++ b/lms/templates/notes.html
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 <%namespace name='static' file='static_content.html'/>
 <%inherit file="main.html" />
+<%!
+    from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
+%>
 
 <%block name="headextra">
     <%static:css group='course'/>
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@
 
 <section class="container">
     <div class="notes-wrapper">
-        <h2>My Notes</h2>
+        <h1>My Notes</h1>
         % for note in notes:
         <div class="note">
             <blockquote>${note.quote|h}</blockquote>
@@ -67,6 +70,9 @@
                 </ul>
         </div>
         % endfor
+        % if notes is UNDEFINED or len(notes) == 0:
+            <p>You do not have any notes.</p>
+        % endif
     </div>
 </section>