diff --git a/app/models/change.rb b/app/models/change.rb
index 385fe5acb..e5c1585b4 100644
--- a/app/models/change.rb
+++ b/app/models/change.rb
@@ -23,4 +23,8 @@ class Change < ActiveRecord::Base
   def relative_path
     changeset.repository.relative_path(path)
   end
+  
+  def before_save
+    path ||= ""
+  end
 end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20100705164950_change_changes_path_length_limit.rb b/db/migrate/20100705164950_change_changes_path_length_limit.rb
index 5f34d5dcf..62ba4ec22 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20100705164950_change_changes_path_length_limit.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20100705164950_change_changes_path_length_limit.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 class ChangeChangesPathLengthLimit < ActiveRecord::Migration
   def self.up
-    change_column :changes, :path, :text, :default => "", :null => false
+    change_column :changes, :path, :text, :null => false
     change_column :changes, :from_path, :text
   end