diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index a65b5ed03..aad320b33 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def identifier_frozen?
-    errors[:identifier].nil? && !(new_record? || identifier.blank?)
+    errors[:identifier].blank? && !(new_record? || identifier.blank?)
   end
 
   # returns latest created projects
diff --git a/test/unit/project_test.rb b/test/unit/project_test.rb
index d8f1b1d90..39ed5d058 100644
--- a/test/unit/project_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/project_test.rb
@@ -106,6 +106,20 @@ class ProjectTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
   end
 
+  def test_identifier_should_not_be_frozen_for_a_new_project
+    assert_equal false, Project.new.identifier_frozen?
+  end
+
+  def test_identifier_should_not_be_frozen_for_a_saved_project_with_blank_identifier
+    Project.update_all(["identifier = ''"], "id = 1")
+
+    assert_equal false, Project.find(1).identifier_frozen?
+  end
+
+  def test_identifier_should_be_frozen_for_a_saved_project_with_valid_identifier
+    assert_equal true, Project.find(1).identifier_frozen?
+  end
+
   def test_members_should_be_active_users
     Project.all.each do |project|
       assert_nil project.members.detect {|m| !(m.user.is_a?(User) && m.user.active?) }