diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js b/src/components/Widgets/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
index 7cbfb7f7..97308c10 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
       .processSync(this.props.value || '')
       .contents;
     this.state = {
-      editorState: serializer.deserialize(html),
+      editorState: serializer.deserialize(html || '<p></p>'),
       schema: {
         nodes: NODE_COMPONENTS,
         marks: MARK_COMPONENTS,