diff --git a/ayanova/src/components/wiki-control.vue b/ayanova/src/components/wiki-control.vue
index eb781f36..5ef93720 100644
--- a/ayanova/src/components/wiki-control.vue
+++ b/ayanova/src/components/wiki-control.vue
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ export default {
   },
   data() {
     return {
-      localVal: this.value,todo: handle null localVal without blowing up
+      localVal: this.value,
       currentView: 0,
       reveal: false,
       selection: {
@@ -383,19 +383,19 @@ export default {
     };
   },
   props: {
-    value: String,
+    value: { type: String, default: "" },
     ayaType: Number,
     ayaId: Number,
     readonly: Boolean
   },
   watch: {
     value(value) {
-      this.localVal = value;
+      this.localVal = value ?? "";
     }
   },
   methods: {
     compiledOutput() {
-      if (this.localVal.length == 0) {
+      if (!this.localVal) {
         return "";
       }
       //replace attachment urls with tokenized local urls