diff --git a/app/controllers/articles.server.controller.js b/app/controllers/articles.server.controller.js
index 0a24e81733..8eb757bc1b 100644
--- a/app/controllers/articles.server.controller.js
+++ b/app/controllers/articles.server.controller.js
@@ -88,9 +88,20 @@ exports.list = function(req, res) {
  * Article middleware
  */
 exports.articleByID = function(req, res, next, id) {
+
+	if (!mongoose.Types.ObjectId.isValid(id)) {
+		return res.status(400).send({
+			message: 'Article is invalid'
+		});
+	}
+
 	Article.findById(id).populate('user', 'displayName').exec(function(err, article) {
 		if (err) return next(err);
-		if (!article) return next(new Error('Failed to load article ' + id));
+		if (!article) {
+			return res.status(404).send({
+  				message: 'Article not found'
+  			});
+		}
 		req.article = article;
 		next();
 	});
diff --git a/app/tests/article.server.routes.test.js b/app/tests/article.server.routes.test.js
index 2576095ae1..34255f5e18 100644
--- a/app/tests/article.server.routes.test.js
+++ b/app/tests/article.server.routes.test.js
@@ -201,6 +201,17 @@ describe('Article CRUD tests', function() {
 		});
 	});
 
+	it('should return proper error for single article which doesnt exist, if not signed in', function(done) {
+		request(app).get('/articles/test')
+			.end(function(req, res) {
+				// Set assertion
+				res.body.should.be.an.Object.with.property('message', 'Article is invalid');
+
+				// Call the assertion callback
+				done();
+			});
+	});
+
 	it('should be able to delete an article if signed in', function(done) {
 		agent.post('/auth/signin')
 			.send(credentials)