diff --git a/src/tooltips.py b/src/tooltips.py
index 14f7f41cd49a248ee992ec4c8e9968fc22f68903..79b2820ce8e3c30f55c1d4ea06fe18026594e35e 100644
--- a/src/tooltips.py
+++ b/src/tooltips.py
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ class FileTransfersTooltip(BaseTooltip):
         else:
             status = _('Not started')
         properties.append((_('Status: '), status))
-        file_desc = file_props.desc
+        file_desc = file_props.desc or ''
         properties.append((_('Description: '), gobject.markup_escape_text(
                 file_desc)))
         while properties: