diff --git a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/model/Label.java b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/model/Label.java
index fcc82e94..bb460318 100644
--- a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/model/Label.java
+++ b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/model/Label.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public class Label implements Serializable {
         return color;
     }
 
-    public void setColor(@NotNull String color) {
+    public void setColor(String color) {
         this.color = color;
     }
 
diff --git a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/rest/model/RestLabel.java b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/rest/model/RestLabel.java
index 2bf5c365..5a49fd38 100644
--- a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/rest/model/RestLabel.java
+++ b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/rest/model/RestLabel.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public class RestLabel {
         label.setTitle(title);
     }
 
-    public void setColor(@NotNull final String color) {
+    public void setColor(final String color) {
         label.setColor(color);
     }
 
diff --git a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/validator/LabelValidator.java b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/validator/LabelValidator.java
index de6cbac8..2639ef5e 100644
--- a/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/validator/LabelValidator.java
+++ b/wise-webapp/src/main/java/com/wisemapping/validator/LabelValidator.java
@@ -63,18 +63,13 @@ public class LabelValidator implements Validator {
                 title,
                 Constants.MAX_LABEL_NAME_LENGTH);
 
-        ValidatorUtils.rejectIfEmptyOrWhitespace(
-                errors,
-                "title",
-                "Label title can not be empty",
-                title);
-
         final User user = com.wisemapping.security.Utils.getUser();
-        assert user != null;
-
-        final Label foundLabel = service.getLabelByTitle(title, user);
-        if (foundLabel != null) {
-            errors.rejectValue("title", Messages.LABEL_TITLE_ALREADY_EXISTS);
+        if (user != null && title != null) {
+            final Label foundLabel = service.getLabelByTitle(title, user);
+            if (foundLabel != null) {
+                errors.rejectValue("title", Messages.LABEL_TITLE_ALREADY_EXISTS);
+            }
         }
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/wise-webapp/src/test/java/com/wisemapping/test/rest/RestLabelControllerTest.java b/wise-webapp/src/test/java/com/wisemapping/test/rest/RestLabelControllerTest.java
index d9a0dd77..c694a86c 100644
--- a/wise-webapp/src/test/java/com/wisemapping/test/rest/RestLabelControllerTest.java
+++ b/wise-webapp/src/test/java/com/wisemapping/test/rest/RestLabelControllerTest.java
@@ -94,14 +94,14 @@ public class RestLabelControllerTest {
             addNewLabel(requestHeaders, restTemplate, null, COLOR);
             fail("Wrong response");
         } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
-            assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Required field cannot be left blank"));
+            assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Required field cannot be left blank"), e.getMessage());
         }
 
         try {
             addNewLabel(requestHeaders, restTemplate, "title12345", null);
             fail("Wrong response");
         } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
-            assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Required field cannot be left blank"));
+            assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Required field cannot be left blank"), e.getMessage());
         }
     }