diff --git a/perl_lib/EPrints/Apache/CRUD.pm b/perl_lib/EPrints/Apache/CRUD.pm
index 2dc20286..07680846 100644
--- a/perl_lib/EPrints/Apache/CRUD.pm
+++ b/perl_lib/EPrints/Apache/CRUD.pm
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ sub parse_input
 	}
 	elsif( $count == 0 || ( $list->count == 0 && $self->{method} ne "PUT" && $self->{method} ne "PATCH" ) )
 	{
-		$plugin->handler->message( "error", "Import plugin didn't create anything" );
+		$plugin->handler->message( "error", "Import plugin didn't create anything.  Check ".$repo->config( 'perl_url' )."/schema to ensure the metadata being sent is valid." );
 		$self->plugin_error( $plugin, \@messages );
 		return undef;
 	}
diff --git a/perl_lib/EPrints/Database.pm b/perl_lib/EPrints/Database.pm
index c58d55ee..2c4b6a07 100644
--- a/perl_lib/EPrints/Database.pm
+++ b/perl_lib/EPrints/Database.pm
@@ -1911,7 +1911,15 @@ sub add_record
 	}
 
 	# Now add the ACTUAL data:
-	return $self->update( $dataset, $data, $data );
+	my $rc = $self->update( $dataset, $data, $data );
+
+	# If the update failed then delete the empty record created by the earlier insert
+	if ( !$rc )
+	{
+		$self->remove( $dataset, $id );
+	}
+
+	return $rc;
 }