diff --git a/aiserver.py b/aiserver.py
index 2ec094ee..50952239 100644
--- a/aiserver.py
+++ b/aiserver.py
@@ -10320,7 +10320,9 @@ def UI_2_action_image():
                  filename, 
                  mimetype="image/jpeg")
     else:
-        return None
+        return send_file(
+                 "static/blank.png", 
+                 mimetype="image/png")
 
 #==================================================================#
 # display messages if they have never been sent before on this install
diff --git a/static/blank.png b/static/blank.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..994c3ba3
Binary files /dev/null and b/static/blank.png differ