diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectApiController.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectApiController.coffee
index b16991ac62..f832a75b54 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectApiController.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectApiController.coffee
@@ -4,11 +4,9 @@ logger = require("logger-sharelatex")
 
 module.exports = 
 
-	getProjectDetails : (req, res)->
+	getProjectDetails : (req, res, next)->
 		{project_id} = req.params
 		ProjectDetailsHandler.getDetails project_id, (err, projDetails)->
-			if err?
-				logger.log err:err, project_id:project_id, "something went wrong getting project details"
-				return res.sendStatus 500
+			return next(err) if err?
 			res.json(projDetails)
 
diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
index 7bd1d33561..9c823c9f17 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ logger = require("logger-sharelatex")
 tpdsUpdateSender = require '../ThirdPartyDataStore/TpdsUpdateSender'
 _ = require("underscore")
 PublicAccessLevels = require("../Authorization/PublicAccessLevels")
+Errors = require("../Errors/Errors")
 
 module.exports = 
 
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ module.exports =
 			if err?
 				logger.err err:err, project_id:project_id, "error getting project"
 				return callback(err)
+			return callback(new Errors.NotFoundError("project not found")) if !project?
 			UserGetter.getUser project.owner_ref, (err, user) ->
 				return callback(err) if err?
 				details =
diff --git a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectApiControllerTests.coffee b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectApiControllerTests.coffee
index 9476a80019..ddf23c0bac 100644
--- a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectApiControllerTests.coffee
+++ b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectApiControllerTests.coffee
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ describe 'Project api controller', ->
 			session:
 				destroy:sinon.stub()
 		@res = {}
+		@next = sinon.stub()
 		@projDetails = {name:"something"}
 
 
@@ -34,9 +35,7 @@ describe 'Project api controller', ->
 			@controller.getProjectDetails @req, @res
 
 
-		it "should send a 500 if there is an error", (done)->
+		it "should send a 500 if there is an error", ()->
 			@ProjectDetailsHandler.getDetails.callsArgWith(1, "error")
-			@res.sendStatus = (resCode)=>
-				resCode.should.equal 500
-				done()
-			@controller.getProjectDetails @req, @res
+			@controller.getProjectDetails @req, @res, @next
+			@next.calledWith("error").should.equal true
diff --git a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
index b9e8ca27c6..501e48f1a5 100644
--- a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
+++ b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 should = require('chai').should()
 modulePath = "../../../../app/js/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler"
+Errors = require "../../../../app/js/Features/Errors/Errors"
 SandboxedModule = require('sandboxed-module')
 sinon = require('sinon')
 assert = require("chai").assert
@@ -48,6 +49,13 @@ describe 'ProjectDetailsHandler', ->
 				assert.equal(details.something, undefined)
 				done()
 
+		it "should return an error for a non-existent project", (done)->
+			@ProjectGetter.getProject.callsArg(2, null, null)
+			err = new Errors.NotFoundError("project not found")
+			@handler.getDetails "0123456789012345678901234", (error, details) =>
+				err.should.eql error
+				done()
+
 		it "should return the error", (done)->
 			error = "some error"
 			@ProjectGetter.getProject.callsArgWith(2, error)