diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/management/commands/clean_cert_name.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/management/commands/clean_cert_name.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8914069b7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/management/commands/clean_cert_name.py
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+"""
+A single-use management command that provides an interactive way to remove
+erroneous certificate names.
+"""
+
+from collections import namedtuple
+
+from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+
+from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
+from xmodule.modulestore import ModuleStoreEnum
+
+Result = namedtuple("Result", ["course_key", "cert_name_short", "cert_name_long", "should_clean"])
+
+
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    """
+    A management command that provides an interactive way to remove erroneous cert_name_long and
+    cert_name_short course attributes across both the Split and Mongo modulestores.
+    """
+    help = 'Allows manual clean-up of invalid cert_name_short and cert_name_long entries on CourseModules'
+
+    def _mongo_results(self):
+        """
+        Return Result objects for any mongo-modulestore backend course that has
+        cert_name_short or cert_name_long set.
+        """
+        # N.B. This code breaks many abstraction barriers. That's ok, because
+        # it's a one-time cleanup command.
+        # pylint: disable=protected-access
+        mongo_modulestore = modulestore()._get_modulestore_by_type(ModuleStoreEnum.Type.mongo)
+        old_mongo_courses = mongo_modulestore.collection.find({
+            "_id.category": "course",
+            "$or": [
+                {"metadata.cert_name_short": {"$exists": 1}},
+                {"metadata.cert_name_long": {"$exists": 1}},
+            ]
+        }, {
+            "_id": True,
+            "metadata.cert_name_short": True,
+            "metadata.cert_name_long": True,
+        })
+
+        return [
+            Result(
+                mongo_modulestore.make_course_key(
+                    course['_id']['org'],
+                    course['_id']['course'],
+                    course['_id']['name'],
+                ),
+                course['metadata'].get('cert_name_short'),
+                course['metadata'].get('cert_name_long'),
+                True
+            ) for course in old_mongo_courses
+        ]
+
+    def _split_results(self):
+        """
+        Return Result objects for any split-modulestore backend course that has
+        cert_name_short or cert_name_long set.
+        """
+        # N.B. This code breaks many abstraction barriers. That's ok, because
+        # it's a one-time cleanup command.
+        # pylint: disable=protected-access
+        split_modulestore = modulestore()._get_modulestore_by_type(ModuleStoreEnum.Type.split)
+        active_version_collection = split_modulestore.db_connection.course_index
+        structure_collection = split_modulestore.db_connection.structures
+
+        branches = active_version_collection.aggregate([{
+            '$group': {
+                '_id': 1,
+                'draft': {'$push': '$versions.draft-branch'},
+                'published': {'$push': '$versions.published-branch'}
+            }
+        }, {
+            '$project': {
+                '_id': 1,
+                'branches': {'$setUnion': ['$draft', '$published']}
+            }
+        }])['result'][0]['branches']
+
+        structures = list(
+            structure_collection.find({
+                '_id': {'$in': branches},
+                'blocks': {'$elemMatch': {
+                    '$and': [
+                        {"block_type": "course"},
+                        {'$or': [
+                            {'fields.cert_name_long': {'$exists': True}},
+                            {'fields.cert_name_short': {'$exists': True}}
+                        ]}
+                    ]
+                }}
+            }, {
+                '_id': True,
+                'blocks.fields.cert_name_long': True,
+                'blocks.fields.cert_name_short': True,
+            })
+        )
+
+        structure_map = {struct['_id']: struct for struct in structures}
+        structure_ids = [struct['_id'] for struct in structures]
+
+        split_mongo_courses = list(active_version_collection.find({
+            '$or': [
+                {"versions.draft-branch": {'$in': structure_ids}},
+                {"versions.published": {'$in': structure_ids}},
+            ]
+        }, {
+            'org': True,
+            'course': True,
+            'run': True,
+            'versions': True,
+        }))
+
+        for course in split_mongo_courses:
+            draft = course['versions'].get('draft-branch')
+            if draft in structure_map:
+                draft_fields = structure_map[draft]['blocks'][0].get('fields', {})
+            else:
+                draft_fields = {}
+
+            published = course['versions'].get('published')
+            if published in structure_map:
+                published_fields = structure_map[published]['blocks'][0].get('fields', {})
+            else:
+                published_fields = {}
+
+            for fields in (draft_fields, published_fields):
+                for field in ('cert_name_short', 'cert_name_long'):
+                    if field in fields:
+                        course[field] = fields[field]
+
+        return [
+            Result(
+                split_modulestore.make_course_key(
+                    course['org'],
+                    course['course'],
+                    course['run'],
+                ),
+                course.get('cert_name_short'),
+                course.get('cert_name_long'),
+                True
+            ) for course in split_mongo_courses
+        ]
+
+    def _display(self, results):
+        """
+        Render a list of Result objects as a nicely formatted table.
+        """
+        headers = ["Course Key", "cert_name_short", "cert_name_short", "Should clean?"]
+        col_widths = [
+            max(len(unicode(result[col])) for result in results + [headers])
+            for col in range(len(results[0]))
+        ]
+        id_format = "{{:>{}}} |".format(len(unicode(len(results))))
+        col_format = "| {{:>{}}} |"
+
+        self.stdout.write(id_format.format(""), ending='')
+        for header, width in zip(headers, col_widths):
+            self.stdout.write(col_format.format(width).format(header), ending='')
+
+        self.stdout.write('')
+
+        for idx, result in enumerate(results):
+            self.stdout.write(id_format.format(idx), ending='')
+            for col, width in zip(result, col_widths):
+                self.stdout.write(col_format.format(width).format(unicode(col)), ending='')
+            self.stdout.write("")
+
+    def _commit(self, results):
+        """
+        For each Result in ``results``, if ``should_clean`` is True, remove cert_name_long
+        and cert_name_short from the course and save in the backing modulestore.
+        """
+        for result in results:
+            if not result.should_clean:
+                continue
+            course = modulestore().get_course(result.course_key)
+            del course.cert_name_short
+            del course.cert_name_long
+            modulestore().update_item(course, ModuleStoreEnum.UserID.mgmt_command)
+
+    def handle(self, *args, **options):
+
+        results = self._mongo_results() + self._split_results()
+
+        self.stdout.write("Type the index of a row to toggle whether it will be cleaned, "
+                          "'commit' to remove all cert_name_short and cert_name_long values "
+                          "from any rows marked for cleaning, or 'quit' to quit.")
+
+        while True:
+            self._display(results)
+            command = raw_input("<index>|commit|quit: ").strip()
+
+            if command == 'quit':
+                return
+            elif command == 'commit':
+                self._commit(results)
+                return
+            elif command == '':
+                continue
+            else:
+                index = int(command)
+                results[index] = results[index]._replace(should_clean=not results[index].should_clean)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/course_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/course_module.py
index 4a47af8949..d2e7b12b42 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/course_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/course_module.py
@@ -495,9 +495,9 @@ class CourseFields(object):
     ## Course level Certificate Name overrides.
     cert_name_short = String(
         help=_(
-            "Use this setting only when generating PDF certificates. "
-            "Between quotation marks, enter the short name of the course to use on the certificate that "
-            "students receive when they complete the course."
+            'Use this setting only when generating PDF certificates. '
+            'Between quotation marks, enter the short name of the type of certificate that '
+            'students receive when they complete the course. For instance, "Certificate".'
         ),
         display_name=_("Certificate Name (Short)"),
         scope=Scope.settings,
@@ -505,9 +505,9 @@ class CourseFields(object):
     )
     cert_name_long = String(
         help=_(
-            "Use this setting only when generating PDF certificates. "
-            "Between quotation marks, enter the long name of the course to use on the certificate that students "
-            "receive when they complete the course."
+            'Use this setting only when generating PDF certificates. '
+            'Between quotation marks, enter the long name of the type of certificate that students '
+            'receive when they complete the course. For instance, "Certificate of Achievement".'
         ),
         display_name=_("Certificate Name (Long)"),
         scope=Scope.settings,