diff --git a/admin.php b/admin.php
index 413c547..d66635d 100644
--- a/admin.php
+++ b/admin.php
@@ -178,7 +178,12 @@ $config_data = json_decode($raw_json_config, false);
 	}
 
 	function defaultNewArchive() {
-		lastlink = document.getElementById("archive_links").lastElementChild.getAttribute("href");
+		try {
+			lastlink = document.getElementById("archive_links").lastElementChild.getAttribute("href");
+		} catch(err) {
+			// last link not found, perhaps there is no archive yet
+			lastlink = "sentences-archive-8-aug-00.txt";
+		}
 		var re = /(\d+)-(\w\w\w)-(\d+)\.txt/;
 		res = re.exec(lastlink);