diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-scripts.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-scripts.ftl
index 0b6a7e53d..2b231034b 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-scripts.ftl
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-scripts.ftl
@@ -9,12 +9,23 @@ instead of the full URL of the requested page? Chintan was also asking for a
 template variable with the domain name for an AJAX request with visualizations.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
 <#assign domainName = requestedPage?substring(0, requestedPage?index_of("/", 7)) />
+<#list vClassGroup as vClass>
+    <#if (vClass.entityCount > 0)>
+        <#assign firstNonEmptyVClass = vClass.URI />
+        <#break>
+    </#if>
+    <#-- test if we're at the last class. If we've gotten this far, none of the classes have any individuals -->
+    <#if !vClass_has_next>
+        <#assign firstNonEmptyVClass = "false">
+    </#if>
+</#list>
+
 
 <script type="text/javascript">
 var menupageData = {
     baseUrl: '${domainName + urls.base}',
     dataServiceUrl: '${domainName + urls.base}/dataservice?getLuceneIndividualsByVClass=1&vclassId=',
-    defaultBrowseVClassUri: '${vClassGroup[0].URI}'
+    defaultBrowseVClassUri: '${firstNonEmptyVClass}'
 };
 </script>
 
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-vClassesInClassgroup.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-vClassesInClassgroup.ftl
index 3a01432e8..eba9d15cd 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-vClassesInClassgroup.ftl
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/partials/menupage/menupage-vClassesInClassgroup.ftl
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
 <nav role="navigation">
     <ul id="vgraph-childClasses" role="list">
     <#list vClassGroup as vClass>
-        <li role="listitem"><a href="#browse-by" title="Browse all people in this class" data-uri="${vClass.URI}">${vClass.name} <span class="count-classes">(${vClass.entityCount})</span></a></li>
+        <#-- Only display vClasses with individuals -->
+        <#if (vClass.entityCount > 0)>
+            <li role="listitem"><a href="#browse-by" title="Browse all people in this class" data-uri="${vClass.URI}">${vClass.name} <span class="count-classes">(${vClass.entityCount})</span></a></li>
+        </#if>
     </#list>
     </ul>
 </nav>
\ No newline at end of file