diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index ba64552973..729c94b105 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ the top.  Include a label indicating the component affected.
 Studio: Remove XML from the video component editor. All settings are
 moved to be edited as metadata.
 
+LMS: Forums.  Added handling for case where discussion module can get `None` as 
+value of lms.start in `lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py`
+
 Studio, LMS: Make ModelTypes more strict about their expected content (for
 instance, Boolean, Integer, String), but also allow them to hold either the
 typed value, or a String that can be converted to their typed value. For example,
diff --git a/cms/envs/aws.py b/cms/envs/aws.py
index a6d6e2f847..c6a383211f 100644
--- a/cms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/cms/envs/aws.py
@@ -112,12 +112,6 @@ TIME_ZONE = ENV_TOKENS.get('TIME_ZONE', TIME_ZONE)
 for feature, value in ENV_TOKENS.get('MITX_FEATURES', {}).items():
     MITX_FEATURES[feature] = value
 
-# If Segment.io key specified, load it and turn on Segment.io if the feature flag is set
-# Note that this is the Studio key. There is a separate key for the LMS.
-SEGMENT_IO_KEY = AUTH_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO_KEY')
-if SEGMENT_IO_KEY:
-    MITX_FEATURES['SEGMENT_IO'] = ENV_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO', False)
-
 LOGGING = get_logger_config(LOG_DIR,
                             logging_env=ENV_TOKENS['LOGGING_ENV'],
                             syslog_addr=(ENV_TOKENS['SYSLOG_SERVER'], 514),
@@ -129,6 +123,13 @@ LOGGING = get_logger_config(LOG_DIR,
 with open(ENV_ROOT / CONFIG_PREFIX + "auth.json") as auth_file:
     AUTH_TOKENS = json.load(auth_file)
 
+# If Segment.io key specified, load it and turn on Segment.io if the feature flag is set
+# Note that this is the Studio key. There is a separate key for the LMS.
+SEGMENT_IO_KEY = AUTH_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO_KEY')
+if SEGMENT_IO_KEY:
+    MITX_FEATURES['SEGMENT_IO'] = ENV_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO', False)
+
+
 AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = AUTH_TOKENS["AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"]
 AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = AUTH_TOKENS["AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"]
 DATABASES = AUTH_TOKENS['DATABASES']
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
index 6e9f6c1f71..496c834950 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
+import pytz
 from collections import defaultdict
 import logging
 import urllib
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from courseware.module_render import get_module
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.db import connection
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ def initialize_discussion_info(course):
         category = " / ".join([x.strip() for x in category.split("/")])
         last_category = category.split("/")[-1]
         discussion_id_map[id] = {"location": module.location, "title": last_category + " / " + title}
-        unexpanded_category_map[category].append({"title": title, "id": id, "sort_key": sort_key, "start_date": module.lms.start})
+        #Handle case where module.lms.start is None
+        entry_start_date = module.lms.start if module.lms.start else datetime.max.replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC)
+        unexpanded_category_map[category].append({"title": title, "id": id, "sort_key": sort_key, "start_date": entry_start_date})
 
     category_map = {"entries": defaultdict(dict), "subcategories": defaultdict(dict)}
     for category_path, entries in unexpanded_category_map.items():