diff --git a/mediarepo-ui/src/app/models/TabState.ts b/mediarepo-ui/src/app/models/TabState.ts
index a0f7e4f..252364e 100644
--- a/mediarepo-ui/src/app/models/TabState.ts
+++ b/mediarepo-ui/src/app/models/TabState.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export class TabState {
         state.sortKeys.next(sortKeys);
         state.mode.next(dto.mode ?? "grid");
         state.selectedCD.next(dto.selectedFileHash);
-        state.files.next(dto.files.map(mapNew(File)));
+        state.files.next((dto.files ?? []).map(mapNew(File)));
 
         return state;
     }
diff --git a/mediarepo-ui/src/app/services/state/state.service.ts b/mediarepo-ui/src/app/services/state/state.service.ts
index e1ee72a..00a4738 100644
--- a/mediarepo-ui/src/app/services/state/state.service.ts
+++ b/mediarepo-ui/src/app/services/state/state.service.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,12 @@ export class StateService {
         let state;
 
         if (stateString) {
-            state = AppState.deserializeJson(stateString, this.fileService);
+            try {
+                state = AppState.deserializeJson(stateString, this.fileService);
+            } catch (err) {
+                console.error("could not deserialize malformed state: ", err);
+                state = new AppState(this.fileService);
+            }
         } else {
             state = new AppState(this.fileService);
         }