Index: src/main/java/org/onehippo/forge/contentblocks/ContentBlocksFieldPlugin.java
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/onehippo/forge/contentblocks/ContentBlocksFieldPlugin.java	(revision 597)
+++ src/main/java/org/onehippo/forge/contentblocks/ContentBlocksFieldPlugin.java	(revision )
@@ -621,7 +621,6 @@
                         new PropertyModel<DropDownOption>(dropDownOptionModel, "item"),
                         getOptionsFromList(),
                         new ChoiceRenderer<DropDownOption>("label", "value"));
-                dropDown.setRequired(true);
                 form.add(dropDown);
 
                 add(new AjaxButton("addItem", form) {
@@ -630,12 +629,16 @@
 
                     @Override
                     protected void onSubmit(AjaxRequestTarget target, Form<?> form) {
+                        if (dropDownOptionModel.getItem() != null && dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue() != null) {
-                        if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
-                            log.debug("Selecting value '{}' from dropdown, compoundList={}",
+                            if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                                log.debug("Selecting value '{}' from dropdown, compoundList={}",
                                     dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), compoundList);
-                        }
-                        addItem(dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), target);
+                            }
+                            addItem(dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), target);
+                        } else {
+                            log.debug("No value selected from dropdown, providerCompoundType={}", compoundList);
-                    }
+                        }
+                    }
                 });
             }
             else if (providerCompoundType != null ) {
@@ -643,7 +646,6 @@
                         new PropertyModel<DropDownOption>(dropDownOptionModel, "item"),
                         getOptionsFromProvider(),
                         new ChoiceRenderer<DropDownOption>("label", "value"));
-                dropDown.setRequired(true);
                 form.add(dropDown);
 
                 add(new AjaxButton("addItem", form) {
@@ -652,11 +654,15 @@
 
                     @Override
                     protected void onSubmit(AjaxRequestTarget target, Form<?> form) {
+                        if (dropDownOptionModel.getItem() != null && dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue() != null) {
-                        if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
-                            log.debug("Selecting value '{}' from dropdown, providerCompoundType={}",
-                                    dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), providerCompoundType);
-                        }
-                        addItem(dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), target);
+                            if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                                log.debug("Selecting value '{}' from dropdown, providerCompoundType={}",
+                                        dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), providerCompoundType);
+                            }
+                            addItem(dropDownOptionModel.getItem().getValue(), target);
+                        } else {
+                            log.debug("No value selected from dropdown, providerCompoundType={}", providerCompoundType);
+                        }
                     }
                 });
             }