diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
index 2008b27eb159f94407fca8dae5bdc874291690e6..ef39d4e71883b7df80a1491eef3e6d780633ad9a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/dao/CouchDBDao.java
@@ -1007,13 +1007,13 @@ public class CouchDBDao implements IDatabaseDao {
 	@Override
 	public List<Answer> getFreetextAnswers(String questionId) {
 		try {
+			List<Answer> answers = new ArrayList<Answer>();
 			View view = new View("skill_question/freetext_answers_full");
 			view.setKey(URLEncoder.encode("\"" + questionId + "\"", "UTF-8"));
 			ViewResults results = this.getDatabase().view(view);
 			if (results.getResults().isEmpty()) {
-				throw new NotFoundException();
+				return answers;
 			}
-			List<Answer> answers = new ArrayList<Answer>();
 			for (Document d : results.getResults()) {
 				Answer a = (Answer) JSONObject.toBean(d.getJSONObject().getJSONObject("value"), Answer.class);
 				a.setQuestionId(questionId);
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/QuestionService.java b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/QuestionService.java
index d41a9173f9bec3083b2d0b443be63b896e012941..89601b04f37a6038aaac924a946f72749e4bd0c6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/QuestionService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thm/arsnova/services/QuestionService.java
@@ -229,7 +229,11 @@ public class QuestionService implements IQuestionService {
 	@Override
 	@Authenticated
 	public List<Answer> getFreetextAnswers(String questionId) {
-		return databaseDao.getFreetextAnswers(questionId);
+		List<Answer> answers = databaseDao.getFreetextAnswers(questionId);
+		if (answers == null) {
+			throw new NotFoundException();
+		}
+		return answers;
 	}
 
 	@Override