diff --git a/announcement/src/plugin-resources/announcement.jsl b/announcement/src/plugin-resources/announcement.jsl
index 4cf68d14..a68203ab 100644
--- a/announcement/src/plugin-resources/announcement.jsl
+++ b/announcement/src/plugin-resources/announcement.jsl
@@ -51,10 +51,12 @@ ${pom.url}
 </j:whitespace>
 
       <j:set var="description" trim="true" value="${pom.description}"/>
+      <j:if test="${!empty(description)}">
       <j:forEach var="line" items="${formatter.format(description,78)}">
         <j:whitespace>${line}
 </j:whitespace>
       </j:forEach>
+      </j:if>
       <j:whitespace trim="false">
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