diff --git a/webapp_utils.py b/webapp_utils.py
index 62b6c1382..e7c80309b 100644
--- a/webapp_utils.py
+++ b/webapp_utils.py
@@ -841,7 +841,9 @@ def html_header_with_person_markup(css_filename: str, instance_title: str,
                 first_entry = False
             skills_markup += '\n        ],\n'
 
-    description = remove_html(actor_json['summary'])
+    description = ''
+    if actor_json.get('summary'):
+        description = remove_html(actor_json['summary'])
     name_str = remove_html(actor_json['name'])
     domain_full = actor_json['id'].split('://')[1].split('/')[0]
     handle = actor_json['preferredUsername'] + '@' + domain_full
diff --git a/webapp_welcome_profile.py b/webapp_welcome_profile.py
index ff6ea2cd0..531eef1bc 100644
--- a/webapp_welcome_profile.py
+++ b/webapp_welcome_profile.py
@@ -112,8 +112,10 @@ def html_welcome_profile(base_dir: str, nickname: str, domain: str,
         edit_text_field(translate['Nickname'], 'displayNickname',
                         display_nickname)
 
-    bio_str = \
-        actor_json['summary'].replace('<p>', '').replace('</p>', '')
+    bio_str = ''
+    if actor_json.get('summary'):
+        bio_str = \
+            actor_json['summary'].replace('<p>', '').replace('</p>', '')
     if not bio_str:
         bio_str = translate['Your bio']
     profile_form += '  <label class="labels">' + \