diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 8563288a6..398cd5481 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ class Project < ApplicationRecord
     tables = parsed_html.css('.hot-table-contents')
                         .zip(parsed_html.css('.hot-table-container'), parsed_html.css('.hot-table-metadata'))
     tables.each do |table_input, table_container, metadata|
-      is_plate_template = JSON.parse(metadata['value'])['plateTemplate'] if metadata.present?
+      is_plate_template = JSON.parse(metadata['value'])['plateTemplate'] if metadata && metadata['value'].present?
       table_vals = JSON.parse(table_input['value'])
       table_data = table_vals['data']
       table_headers = table_vals['headers']
diff --git a/app/models/report.rb b/app/models/report.rb
index e419b5cb4..38cc222d0 100644
--- a/app/models/report.rb
+++ b/app/models/report.rb
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class Report < ApplicationRecord
       )
     end
 
-    report = Report.new
+    report = Report.new(skip_user_assignments: true)
     report.name = loop do
       dummy_name = SecureRandom.hex(10)
       break dummy_name unless Report.exists?(name: dummy_name)