diff --git a/src/main/webapp/scripts/project/menu-bar.js b/src/main/webapp/scripts/project/menu-bar.js
index 8d2b51984..f69de47fc 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/scripts/project/menu-bar.js
+++ b/src/main/webapp/scripts/project/menu-bar.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ MenuBar.prototype._initializeUI = function() {
                 {},
                 {
                     "label": "Tripleloader",
-                    "click": function() { self._doExportRows("tripleloader", "txt"); }
+                    "click": function() { self._doExportTripleloader(); }
                 }
             ]
         },
@@ -145,6 +145,17 @@ MenuBar.prototype._deactivateMenu = function() {
     this._mode = "inactive";
 };
 
+MenuBar.prototype._doExportTripleloader = function() {
+    if (theProject.protograph == null) {
+        alert(
+            "You haven't done any schema alignment yet,\nso there is no triple to export.\n\n" +
+            "Use the Schemas > Edit Schema Alignment Skeleton...\ncommand to align your data with Freebase schemas first."
+        );
+    } else {
+        this._doExportRows("tripleloader", "txt");
+    }
+};
+
 MenuBar.prototype._doExportRows = function(format, ext) {
     var name = $.trim(theProject.metadata.name.replace(/\W/g, ' ')).replace(/\s+/g, '-');
     var form = document.createElement("form");