diff --git a/mod/assignment/lib.php b/mod/assignment/lib.php
index eea2714fe46..6997e28ac3e 100644
--- a/mod/assignment/lib.php
+++ b/mod/assignment/lib.php
@@ -1820,10 +1820,10 @@ class assignment_base {
      *
      * @global object
      * @global object
-     * @param $userid int The id of the user whose submission we want or 0 in which case USER->id is used
-     * @param $createnew boolean optional Defaults to false. If set to true a new submission object will be created in the database
+     * @param int $userid int The id of the user whose submission we want or 0 in which case USER->id is used
+     * @param bool $createnew boolean optional Defaults to false. If set to true a new submission object will be created in the database
      * @param bool $teachermodified student submission set if false
-     * @return object The submission
+     * @return object|bool The submission or false if $createnew is false.
      */
     function get_submission($userid=0, $createnew=false, $teachermodified=false) {
         global $USER, $DB;
@@ -1834,8 +1834,10 @@ class assignment_base {
 
         $submission = $DB->get_record('assignment_submissions', array('assignment'=>$this->assignment->id, 'userid'=>$userid));
 
-        if ($submission || !$createnew) {
+        if ($submission) {
             return $submission;
+        } else if(!$createnew) {
+            return false;
         }
         $newsubmission = $this->prepare_new_submission($userid, $teachermodified);
         $DB->insert_record("assignment_submissions", $newsubmission);
diff --git a/mod/assignment/type/upload/upload.php b/mod/assignment/type/upload/upload.php
index 36bba5acad8..e0f79f4e927 100644
--- a/mod/assignment/type/upload/upload.php
+++ b/mod/assignment/type/upload/upload.php
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ $PAGE->set_title($title);
 $PAGE->set_heading($title);
 
 $instance = new assignment_upload($cm->id, $assignment, $cm, $course);
-$submission = $instance->get_submission($formdata->userid, true);
+$submission = $instance->get_submission($formdata->userid, false);
 
 $filemanager_options = array('subdirs'=>1, 'maxbytes'=>$assignment->maxbytes, 'maxfiles'=>$assignment->var1, 'accepted_types'=>'*', 'return_types'=>FILE_INTERNAL);
 
@@ -77,8 +77,12 @@ echo $OUTPUT->header();
 echo $OUTPUT->box_start('generalbox');
 if ($instance->can_upload_file($submission) && ($id==null)) {
     $data = new stdClass();
+    $submissionid = null;
+    if (is_object($submission) && isset($submission->id)) {
+        $submissionid = $submission->id;
+    }
     // move submission files to user draft area
-    $data = file_prepare_standard_filemanager($data, 'files', $filemanager_options, $context, 'mod_assignment', 'submission', $submission->id);
+    $data = file_prepare_standard_filemanager($data, 'files', $filemanager_options, $context, 'mod_assignment', 'submission', $submissionid);
     // set file manager itemid, so it will find the files in draft area
     $mform->set_data($data);
     $mform->display();