diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/bulk_product_update.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/bulk_product_update.js.coffee
index 631a940d31..c2c4a56af7 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/bulk_product_update.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/bulk_product_update.js.coffee
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ productsApp.controller "AdminBulkProductsCtrl", [
     $scope.loadVariantUnit = (product) ->
       product.variant_unit_with_scale = if product.variant_unit && product.variant_unit_scale
         "#{product.variant_unit}_#{product.variant_unit_scale}"
+      else if product.variant_unit
+        product.variant_unit
       else
         null
 
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/unit/bulk_product_update_spec.js.coffee b/spec/javascripts/unit/bulk_product_update_spec.js.coffee
index c42028a2b9..282811aa3f 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/unit/bulk_product_update_spec.js.coffee
+++ b/spec/javascripts/unit/bulk_product_update_spec.js.coffee
@@ -386,10 +386,10 @@ describe "AdminBulkProductsCtrl", ->
       scope.loadVariantUnit product
       expect(product.variant_unit_with_scale).toBeNull()
 
-    it 'sets variant_unit_with_scale to null when variant_unit_scale is null', ->
-      product = {variant_unit: 'weight', variant_unit_scale: null}
+    it 'sets variant_unit_with_scale to variant_unit when variant_unit_scale is null', ->
+      product = {variant_unit: 'items', variant_unit_scale: null, variant_unit_name: 'foo'}
       scope.loadVariantUnit product
-      expect(product.variant_unit_with_scale).toBeNull()
+      expect(product.variant_unit_with_scale).toEqual "items"
 
 
   describe "getting on_hand counts when products have variants", ->