diff --git a/web/react/components/edit_channel_modal.jsx b/web/react/components/edit_channel_modal.jsx
index c0818959ad..d055feacd0 100644
--- a/web/react/components/edit_channel_modal.jsx
+++ b/web/react/components/edit_channel_modal.jsx
@@ -6,17 +6,24 @@ var AsyncClient = require('../utils/async_client.jsx');
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     handleEdit: function(e) {
-        var data = {}
+        var data = {};
         data["channel_id"] = this.state.channel_id;
         if (data["channel_id"].length !== 26) return;
         data["channel_description"] = this.state.description.trim();
 
         Client.updateChannelDesc(data,
             function(data) {
+                this.setState({ server_error: "" });
                 AsyncClient.getChannels(true);
+                $(this.refs.modal.getDOMNode()).modal('hide');
             }.bind(this),
             function(err) {
-                AsyncClient.dispatchError(err, "updateChannelDesc");
+                if (err.message === "Invalid channel_description parameter") {
+                    this.setState({ server_error: "This description is too long, please enter a shorter one" });
+                }
+                else {
+                    this.setState({ server_error: err.message });
+                }
             }.bind(this)
         );
     },
@@ -27,13 +34,15 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         var self = this;
         $(this.refs.modal.getDOMNode()).on('show.bs.modal', function(e) {
             var button = e.relatedTarget;
-            self.setState({ description: $(button).attr('data-desc'), title: $(button).attr('data-title'), channel_id: $(button).attr('data-channelid') });
+            self.setState({ description: $(button).attr('data-desc'), title: $(button).attr('data-title'), channel_id: $(button).attr('data-channelid'), server_error: "" });
         });
     },
     getInitialState: function() {
         return { description: "", title: "", channel_id: "" };
     },
     render: function() {
+        var server_error = this.state.server_error ? <div className='form-group has-error'><br/><label className='control-label'>{ this.state.server_error }</label></div> : null;
+
         return (
             <div className="modal fade" ref="modal" id="edit_channel" role="dialog" aria-hidden="true">
               <div className="modal-dialog">
@@ -44,10 +53,11 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                   </div>
                   <div className="modal-body">
                     <textarea className="form-control no-resize" rows="6" ref="channelDesc" maxLength="1024" value={this.state.description} onChange={this.handleUserInput}></textarea>
+                    { server_error }
                   </div>
                   <div className="modal-footer">
                     <button type="button" className="btn btn-default" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>
-                    <button type="button" className="btn btn-primary" data-dismiss="modal" onClick={this.handleEdit}>Save</button>
+                    <button type="button" className="btn btn-primary" onClick={this.handleEdit}>Save</button>
                   </div>
                 </div>
               </div>