diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyChangeLogger.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyChangeLogger.java
index 169064bc0..50ceb79f8 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyChangeLogger.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyChangeLogger.java
@@ -12,4 +12,6 @@ public interface OntologyChangeLogger {
 	
 	public void closeLogs() throws IOException;
 	
+	public boolean errorsWritten();
+	
 }
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyUpdater.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyUpdater.java
index b240dadad..2915b5849 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyUpdater.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/OntologyUpdater.java
@@ -63,9 +63,15 @@ public class OntologyUpdater {
 		// Check to see if the update is necessary.
 		if (updateRequired()) {
 			performUpdate();
-			// add assertions to the knowledge base showing that the 
-			// update was successful, so we don't need to run it again.
-			assertSuccess();
+			
+			if (!logger.errorsWritten()) {
+				// add assertions to the knowledge base showing that the 
+				// update was successful, so we don't need to run it again.
+				// TODO improve error handling in future version.
+				assertSuccess();
+			}
+			
+			logger.closeLogs();
 		}
 	}
 	
@@ -88,7 +94,6 @@ public class OntologyUpdater {
 		
 		updateTBoxAnnotations();
 		
-		logger.closeLogs();
 	}
 	
 	/**
@@ -224,7 +229,7 @@ public class OntologyUpdater {
 		return fileContents.toString();				
 	}
 	
-	private void assertSuccess() throws FileNotFoundException {
+	private void assertSuccess() throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
 		try {
 		    Model m = settings.getOntModelSelector().getApplicationMetadataModel();
 		    File successAssertionsFile = 
@@ -232,19 +237,17 @@ public class OntologyUpdater {
 		    InputStream inStream = new FileInputStream(successAssertionsFile);
 		    m.enterCriticalSection(Lock.WRITE);
 		    try {
-		    	m.read(inStream, settings.getSuccessRDFFormat());
+		    	m.read(inStream, null, settings.getSuccessRDFFormat());
+		    	logger.log(" finished without errors.");
 		    } finally {
 		    	m.leaveCriticalSection();
 		    }
 		} catch (Exception e) {
-			// TODO: log something to the error log
+			logger.logError(" unable to make RDF assertions about successful " +
+					" update to new ontology version: " + e.getMessage());
 		}
 	}
 	
-	private void log(String log) {
-		
-	}
-	
 	/**
 	 * A class that allows to access two different ontology change lists,
 	 * one for class changes and the other for property changes.  The 
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/SimpleOntologyChangeLogger.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/SimpleOntologyChangeLogger.java
index 3b5ceff08..dc46bbc6b 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/SimpleOntologyChangeLogger.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/ontology/update/SimpleOntologyChangeLogger.java
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ public class SimpleOntologyChangeLogger implements OntologyChangeLogger {
 	private Writer logWriter;
 	private Writer errorWriter;
 	
+	private boolean errorsWritten = false;
+	
 	public SimpleOntologyChangeLogger( String logPath, 
 									   String errorPath ) {
 		File logFile = new File(logPath);
@@ -40,6 +42,7 @@ public class SimpleOntologyChangeLogger implements OntologyChangeLogger {
 
 	public void logError(String errorMessage) throws IOException {
 
+		errorsWritten = true;
 		Exception e = new Exception();
 		StackTraceElement[] elements = e.getStackTrace();
 		String className = ((StackTraceElement)elements[1]).getClassName();
@@ -57,4 +60,8 @@ public class SimpleOntologyChangeLogger implements OntologyChangeLogger {
 		errorWriter.flush();
 		errorWriter.close();
 	}
+	
+	public boolean errorsWritten() {
+		return errorsWritten;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/servlet/setup/UpdateKnowledgeBase.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/servlet/setup/UpdateKnowledgeBase.java
index ac9e70494..29d561917 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/servlet/setup/UpdateKnowledgeBase.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/servlet/setup/UpdateKnowledgeBase.java
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public class UpdateKnowledgeBase implements ServletContextListener {
 			settings.setDiffFile(ctx.getRealPath(DIFF_FILE));
 			settings.setSuccessAssertionsFile(
 					ctx.getRealPath(SUCCESS_ASSERTIONS_FILE));
-			settings.setSuccessRDFFormat(ctx.getRealPath(SUCCESS_RDF_FORMAT));
+			settings.setSuccessRDFFormat(SUCCESS_RDF_FORMAT);
 			settings.setLogFile(ctx.getRealPath(LOG_FILE));
 			settings.setErrorLogFile(ctx.getRealPath(ERROR_LOG_FILE));
 			settings.setAddedDataFile(ctx.getRealPath(ADDED_DATA_FILE));