diff --git a/nw/project/project.py b/nw/project/project.py
index 00f31177..71891185 100644
--- a/nw/project/project.py
+++ b/nw/project/project.py
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ class NWProject():
             nwXML = etree.parse(fileName)
         except Exception as e:
             self.makeAlert(["Failed to parse project xml.",str(e)], nwAlert.ERROR)
+            self.clearProject()
             return False
 
         xRoot   = nwXML.getroot()