diff --git a/app/controllers/invites_controller.rb b/app/controllers/invites_controller.rb
index eeb55b67f44..1012248748e 100644
--- a/app/controllers/invites_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/invites_controller.rb
@@ -60,8 +60,11 @@ class InvitesController < ApplicationController
     end
 
     # generate invite link
-    invite_link = Invite.generate_invite_link(params[:email], current_user, topic, group_ids)
-    render_json_dump(invite_link)
+    if invite_link = Invite.generate_invite_link(params[:email], current_user, topic, group_ids)
+      render_json_dump(invite_link)
+    else
+      render json: failed_json, status: 422
+    end
   end
 
   def create_disposable_invite
diff --git a/app/models/invite.rb b/app/models/invite.rb
index 8cf304d4567..a2fdc3403d3 100644
--- a/app/models/invite.rb
+++ b/app/models/invite.rb
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class Invite < ActiveRecord::Base
   # generate invite link
   def self.generate_invite_link(email, invited_by, topic=nil, group_ids=nil)
     invite = create_invite_by_email(email, invited_by, topic, group_ids, false)
-    return "#{Discourse.base_url}/invites/#{invite.invite_key}"
+    return "#{Discourse.base_url}/invites/#{invite.invite_key}" if invite
   end
 
   # Create an invite for a user, supplying an optional topic