diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecision.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecision.java
index a4f660c17..3425e8296 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecision.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecision.java
@@ -153,6 +153,11 @@ public class DateTimeWithPrecision extends BaseEditElement {
     
     protected Literal getDateTime( Map<String, String[]> queryParameters ) {
         Integer year = parseToInt(fieldName+".year", queryParameters);
+        
+        //this is the case where date has not been filled out at all.        
+        if( year == null ) 
+            return null;
+        
         Integer month = parseToInt(fieldName+".month", queryParameters);
         if( month == null || month == 0 ) 
             month = 1;        
@@ -232,6 +237,10 @@ public class DateTimeWithPrecision extends BaseEditElement {
             }            
         }
         
+        /* the field wasn't filled out at all */
+        if( indexOfFirstNull == 0 )
+            return VitroVocabulary.Precision.NONE.uri();
+        
         /* if they all had values then we have seconds precision */
         if( indexOfFirstNull == -1 )
             return VitroVocabulary.Precision.SECOND.uri();
@@ -247,7 +256,7 @@ public class DateTimeWithPrecision extends BaseEditElement {
             }
         }
         if( nonNullAfterFirstNull )
-            throw new Exception("cannot determine precision, there were filledout values after the first un-filledout value, ");
+            throw new Exception("cannot determine precision, there were filled out values after the first un-filledout value, ");
         else{            
             return precisions[ indexOfFirstNull ].uri(); 
         }
diff --git a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecisionTest.java b/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecisionTest.java
index 1f2c26b91..3c335723c 100644
--- a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecisionTest.java
+++ b/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/elements/DateTimeWithPrecisionTest.java
@@ -182,6 +182,37 @@ public class DateTimeWithPrecisionTest {
         Assert.assertEquals(VitroVocabulary.Precision.YEAR.uri(), precisionURI);        
     }
     
+    @Test
+    public void precisionNoValueTest() throws Exception{
+        String FIELDNAME = "testfield";       
+        Field field = new Field();
+        field.setName(FIELDNAME);
+        DateTimeWithPrecision dtwp = new DateTimeWithPrecision(field);
+        
+        Map<String,String[]> queryParameters = new HashMap<String, String[]>();
+        //field is not filled out at all
+        //no year
+        //no months
+        //no days
+        //no hours
+        //no minutes
+        //no seconds
+
+        EditConfiguration editConfig=null;
+        Map<String,String> validationMsgs = dtwp.getValidationMessages("testfield", editConfig, queryParameters);        
+        Assert.assertNotNull(validationMsgs);
+        Assert.assertTrue(validationMsgs.size() == 0 );
+        
+        String precisionURI = null;
+        precisionURI = dtwp.getSubmittedPrecision( queryParameters );
+        
+        Assert.assertNotNull(precisionURI);
+        Assert.assertEquals(VitroVocabulary.Precision.NONE.uri(), precisionURI);    
+        
+        Literal date = dtwp.getDateTime( queryParameters);        
+        Assert.assertNull(date);                  
+    }
+    
     @Test
     public void getDateLiteralTest(){
         String FIELDNAME = "testfield";