diff --git a/templates/explore/dataset_list.tmpl b/templates/explore/dataset_list.tmpl
index 5f4720fec..f7caf4f36 100755
--- a/templates/explore/dataset_list.tmpl
+++ b/templates/explore/dataset_list.tmpl
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
-
{{.Description}}
+ {{if .Description}}
+
{{.Description}}
+ {{else if .Repo.DescriptionHTML}}
+
{{.Repo.DescriptionHTML}}
+ {{end}}
{{$.i18n.Tr "org.repo_updated"}} {{TimeSinceUnix .UpdatedUnix $.i18n.Lang}}
diff --git a/templates/repo/datasets/index.tmpl b/templates/repo/datasets/index.tmpl
index 09642b222..1c6a2a2b2 100755
--- a/templates/repo/datasets/index.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/datasets/index.tmpl
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
- {{.dataset.Description}}
+ {{if .dataset.Description }}
+ {{.dataset.Description}}
+ {{else}}
+ {{.Repository.DescriptionHTML}}
+ {{end}}