diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/jsontemplates.py b/r2/r2/lib/jsontemplates.py
index 1ee282dea..b17e6b752 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/jsontemplates.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/jsontemplates.py
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ class ObjectTemplate(StringTemplate):
             elif isinstance(obj, (list, tuple)):
                 return map(_update, obj)
             elif isinstance(obj, CacheStub) and kw.has_key(obj.name):
-                return spaceCompress(kw[obj.name])
+                r = kw[obj.name]
+                if isinstance(r, (str, unicode)):
+                    r = spaceCompress(r)
+                return r    
             else:
                 return obj
         res = _update(self.d)