diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/assets.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/assets.py
index b5041d3e9f..872b71bcb7 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/assets.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/assets.py
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ def upload_asset(request, org, course, coursename):
         logging.error('Could not find course' + location)
         return HttpResponseBadRequest()
 
+    if 'file' not in request.FILES:
+        return HttpResponseBadRequest()
+
     # compute a 'filename' which is similar to the location formatting, we're using the 'filename'
     # nomenclature since we're using a FileSystem paradigm here. We're just imposing
     # the Location string formatting expectations to keep things a bit more consistent
diff --git a/cms/static/js/base.js b/cms/static/js/base.js
index fe60d80239..2260579e49 100644
--- a/cms/static/js/base.js
+++ b/cms/static/js/base.js
@@ -411,8 +411,12 @@ function showFileSelectionMenu(e) {
 }
 
 function startUpload(e) {
+    file_input = $('.file-input').val().replace('C:\\fakepath\\', '');
+    if (file_input === '')
+        return;
+
     $('.upload-modal h1').html(gettext('Uploading…'));
-    $('.upload-modal .file-name').html($('.file-input').val().replace('C:\\fakepath\\', ''));
+    $('.upload-modal .file-name').html(file_input);
     $('.upload-modal .file-chooser').ajaxSubmit({
         beforeSend: resetUploadBar,
         uploadProgress: showUploadFeedback,