diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
index 73b5baf2d6c6..2f87053abdbe 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@
 import logging
 import os
 import sys
+from datetime import datetime
 from lxml import etree
 from path import path
+from pytz import UTC
 
 from pkg_resources import resource_string
 from xblock.fields import Scope, String, Boolean
+from xmodule.fields import Date
 from xmodule.editing_module import EditingDescriptor
 from xmodule.html_checker import check_html
 from xmodule.stringify import stringify_children
@@ -227,6 +230,12 @@ class AboutFields(object):
         default="",
         scope=Scope.content
     )
+    # this exists purely to override the default start date
+    start = Date(
+        help="placeholder to make sure that About is always active",
+        default=datetime.fromtimestamp(0, UTC),
+        scope=Scope.settings,
+    )
 
 
 class AboutModule(AboutFields, HtmlModule):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
index e7bc5c47fbd8..e9eaab66f9f2 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
@@ -960,7 +960,8 @@ def get_field_provenance(self, xblock, field):
 
     def render(self, block, view_name, context=None):
         if view_name == 'student_view':
-            assert block.xmodule_runtime is not None
+            assert block.xmodule_runtime is not None, \
+                "{block} xmodule runtime must not be None".format(block=block)
             if isinstance(block, (XModule, XModuleDescriptor)):
                 to_render = block._xmodule
             else:
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_about.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_about.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a999ad9162f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_about.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+from django.test.utils import override_settings
+from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
+
+from .helpers import LoginEnrollmentTestCase
+from xmodule.modulestore.tests.django_utils import ModuleStoreTestCase
+from courseware.tests.modulestore_config import TEST_DATA_MIXED_MODULESTORE
+from xmodule.modulestore.tests.factories import CourseFactory, ItemFactory
+
+
+@override_settings(MODULESTORE=TEST_DATA_MIXED_MODULESTORE)
+class AboutTestCase(LoginEnrollmentTestCase, ModuleStoreTestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.course = CourseFactory.create()
+        self.about = ItemFactory.create(
+            category="about", parent_location=self.course.location,
+            data="OOGIE BLOOGIE", display_name="overview"
+        )
+
+    def test_logged_in(self):
+        self.setup_user()
+        url = reverse('about_course', args=[self.course.id])
+        resp = self.client.get(url)
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIn("OOGIE BLOOGIE", resp.content)
+
+    def test_anonymous_user(self):
+        url = reverse('about_course', args=[self.course.id])
+        resp = self.client.get(url)
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIn("OOGIE BLOOGIE", resp.content)