diff --git a/app/Http/Middleware/Range.php b/app/Http/Middleware/Range.php
index 584611dc7c..43b8d5420f 100644
--- a/app/Http/Middleware/Range.php
+++ b/app/Http/Middleware/Range.php
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class Range
                 /** @var \FireflyIII\Repositories\Journal\JournalRepositoryInterface $repository */
                 $repository = app('FireflyIII\Repositories\Journal\JournalRepositoryInterface');
                 $journal    = $repository->first();
-                if ($journal) {
+                if (!is_null($journal->id)) {
                     Session::put('first', $journal->date);
                 } else {
                     Session::put('first', Carbon::now()->startOfYear());
diff --git a/app/Repositories/Journal/JournalRepository.php b/app/Repositories/Journal/JournalRepository.php
index ef0b919a6f..aad47de6d3 100644
--- a/app/Repositories/Journal/JournalRepository.php
+++ b/app/Repositories/Journal/JournalRepository.php
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ class JournalRepository implements JournalRepositoryInterface
     public function first(): TransactionJournal
     {
         $entry = $this->user->transactionjournals()->orderBy('date', 'ASC')->first(['transaction_journals.*']);
+        if (is_null($entry)) {
+            return new TransactionJournal;
+        }
 
         return $entry;
     }