diff --git a/modules/services/wikidata.js b/modules/services/wikidata.js
index b4790fb2e..88a214849 100644
--- a/modules/services/wikidata.js
+++ b/modules/services/wikidata.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { json as d3_json } from 'd3-request';
 import { utilQsString } from '../util';
 import { currentLocale } from '../util/locale';
 
-var endpoint = 'https://www.wikidata.org/w/api.php?';
+var apibase = 'https://www.wikidata.org/w/api.php?';
 var _wikidataCache = {};
 
 export default {
@@ -21,13 +21,13 @@ export default {
     // corresponding Wikidata entities.
     itemsByTitle: function(lang, title, callback) {
         if (!title) {
-            callback('', {});
+            callback('No title', {});
             return;
         }
 
         lang = lang || 'en';
 
-        d3_json(endpoint + utilQsString({
+        d3_json(apibase + utilQsString({
             action: 'wbgetentities',
             format: 'json',
             formatversion: 2,
@@ -36,10 +36,13 @@ export default {
             languages: 'en', // shrink response by filtering to one language
             origin: '*'
         }), function(err, data) {
-            if (err || !data || data.error) {
-                callback('', {});
+            if (data && data.error) {
+                err = data.error;
+            }
+            if (err) {
+                callback(err, {});
             } else {
-                callback(title, data.entities || {});
+                callback(null, data.entities || {});
             }
         });
     },
@@ -47,11 +50,11 @@ export default {
 
     entityByQID: function(qid, callback) {
         if (!qid) {
-            callback('', {});
+            callback('No qid', {});
             return;
         }
         if (_wikidataCache[qid]) {
-            callback('', _wikidataCache[qid]);
+            callback(null, _wikidataCache[qid]);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ export default {
             'en'
         ]);
 
-        d3_json(endpoint + utilQsString({
+        d3_json(apibase + utilQsString({
             action: 'wbgetentities',
             format: 'json',
             formatversion: 2,
@@ -72,11 +75,14 @@ export default {
             languagefallback: 1,
             origin: '*'
         }), function(err, data) {
-            if (err || !data || data.error) {
-                callback('', {});
+            if (data && data.error) {
+                err = data.error;
+            }
+            if (err) {
+                callback(err, {});
             } else {
                 _wikidataCache[qid] = data.entities[qid];
-                callback(qid, data.entities[qid] || {});
+                callback(null, data.entities[qid] || {});
             }
         });
     },
@@ -99,7 +105,7 @@ export default {
     getDocs: function(params, callback) {
         this.entityByQID(params.qid, function(err, entity) {
             if (err || !entity) {
-                callback(err);
+                callback(err || 'No entity');
                 return;
             }
 
diff --git a/modules/ui/fields/wikidata.js b/modules/ui/fields/wikidata.js
index a84e948fb..3c7fe5524 100644
--- a/modules/ui/fields/wikidata.js
+++ b/modules/ui/fields/wikidata.js
@@ -138,43 +138,54 @@ export function uiFieldWikidata(field) {
 
     wiki.tags = function(tags) {
         var value = tags[field.key] || '';
-        var matches = value.match(/^Q[0-9]*$/);
-
         utilGetSetValue(title, value);
 
-        // value in correct format
-        if (matches) {
-            _wikiURL = 'https://wikidata.org/wiki/' + value;
-            wikidata.entityByQID(value, function(qid, entity) {
-                var label = '';
-                var description = '';
+        if (!/^Q[0-9]*$/.test(value)) {   // not a proper QID
+            unrecognized();
+            return;
+        }
 
-                if (entity.labels && Object.keys(entity.labels).length > 0) {
-                    label = entity.labels[Object.keys(entity.labels)[0]].value;
-                }
-                if (entity.descriptions && Object.keys(entity.descriptions).length > 0) {
-                    description = entity.descriptions[Object.keys(entity.descriptions)[0]].value;
-                }
+        // QID value in correct format
+        _wikiURL = 'https://wikidata.org/wiki/' + value;
+        wikidata.entityByQID(value, function(err, entity) {
+            if (err) {
+                unrecognized();
+                return;
+            }
 
-                d3_select('.preset-wikidata-label')
-                    .style('display', function(){
-                        return label.length > 0 ? 'flex' : 'none';
-                    })
-                    .select('input')
-                    .attr('value', label);
+            var label = '';
+            var description = '';
 
-                d3_select('.preset-wikidata-description')
-                    .style('display', function(){
-                        return description.length > 0 ? 'flex' : 'none';
-                    })
-                    .select('input')
-                    .attr('value', description);
-            });
+            if (entity.labels && Object.keys(entity.labels).length > 0) {
+                label = entity.labels[Object.keys(entity.labels)[0]].value;
+            }
+            if (entity.descriptions && Object.keys(entity.descriptions).length > 0) {
+                description = entity.descriptions[Object.keys(entity.descriptions)[0]].value;
+            }
+
+            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-label')
+                .style('display', function(){
+                    return label.length > 0 ? 'flex' : 'none';
+                })
+                .select('input')
+                .attr('value', label);
+
+            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-description')
+                .style('display', function(){
+                    return description.length > 0 ? 'flex' : 'none';
+                })
+                .select('input')
+                .attr('value', description);
+        });
+
+
+        // not a proper QID
+        function unrecognized() {
+            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-label')
+                .style('display', 'none');
+            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-description')
+                .style('display', 'none');
 
-        // unrecognized value format
-        } else {
-            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-label').style('display', 'none');
-            d3_select('.preset-wikidata-description').style('display', 'none');
             if (value && value !== '') {
                 _wikiURL = 'https://wikidata.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=' + value;
             } else {
diff --git a/modules/ui/fields/wikipedia.js b/modules/ui/fields/wikipedia.js
index 1b1653107..81ffd7398 100644
--- a/modules/ui/fields/wikipedia.js
+++ b/modules/ui/fields/wikipedia.js
@@ -200,7 +200,9 @@ export function uiFieldWikipedia(field, context) {
         var initGraph = context.graph();
         var initEntityID = _entity.id;
 
-        wikidata.itemsByTitle(language()[2], value, function(title, data) {
+        wikidata.itemsByTitle(language()[2], value, function(err, data) {
+            if (err) return;
+
             // If graph has changed, we can't apply this update.
             if (context.graph() !== initGraph) return;