diff --git a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourceconfigdlg.cpp b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourceconfigdlg.cpp
index 8acb4ee8bb6d..7097fe49991f 100644
--- a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourceconfigdlg.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourceconfigdlg.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ QgsExternalResourceConfigDlg::QgsExternalResourceConfigDlg( QgsVectorLayer* vl,
   mUseLink->setChecked( false );
   mFullUrl->setChecked( false );
   mDocumentViewerGroupBox->setChecked( false );
-  mRootPath->setPlaceholderText( QSettings().value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDir", QDir::toNativeSeparators( QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() ) ) ).toString() );
+  mRootPath->setPlaceholderText( QSettings().value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDefaultPath", QDir::toNativeSeparators( QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() ) ) ).toString() );
 
   // Add connection to button for choosing default path
   connect( mRootPathButton, SIGNAL( clicked() ), this, SLOT( chooseDefaultPath() ) );
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ void QgsExternalResourceConfigDlg::chooseDefaultPath()
   }
   else
   {
-    dir = QSettings().value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDir", QDir::toNativeSeparators( QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() ) ) ).toString();
+    dir = QSettings().value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDefaultPath", QDir::toNativeSeparators( QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() ) ) ).toString();
   }
 
   QString rootName = QFileDialog::getExistingDirectory( this, tr( "Select a directory" ), dir, QFileDialog::ShowDirsOnly );
diff --git a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
index a0f1a71907f1..ba3b51d1dd47 100644
--- a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ QVariant QgsExternalResourceWidgetWrapper::value() const
 {
   if ( mQgsWidget )
   {
-    return mQgsWidget->documentPath();
+    mQgsWidget->documentPath( field().type() );
   }
 
   if ( mLineEdit )
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
index 8110bd337f22..edcfee5a0224 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
@@ -58,12 +58,12 @@ QgsExternalResourceWidget::QgsExternalResourceWidget( QWidget *parent )
   connect( mFilePicker, SIGNAL( fileChanged( QString ) ), this, SLOT( loadDocument( QString ) ) );
 }
 
-QVariant QgsExternalResourceWidget::documentPath()
+QVariant QgsExternalResourceWidget::documentPath( QVariant::Type type ) const
 {
   QString path = mFilePicker->filePath();
-  if ( path.isNull() || path == QSettings().value( "qgis/nullValue", "NULL" ) )
+  if ( path.isEmpty() )
   {
-    return QVariant();
+    return QVariant( type );
   }
   else
   {
@@ -71,18 +71,9 @@ QVariant QgsExternalResourceWidget::documentPath()
   }
 }
 
-void QgsExternalResourceWidget::setDocumentPath( QVariant value )
+void QgsExternalResourceWidget::setDocumentPath( QVariant path )
 {
-  QString path;
-  if ( value.isNull() )
-  {
-    path =  QSettings().value( "qgis/nullValue", "NULL" ).toString();
-  }
-  else
-  {
-    path = value.toString();
-  }
-  mFilePicker->setFilePath( path );
+  mFilePicker->setFilePath( path.toString() );
 }
 
 QgsFilePickerWidget*QgsExternalResourceWidget::filePickerwidget()
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
index 011f22c0d07b..7ced67757bdd 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
+++ b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
@@ -18,11 +18,10 @@
 #define QGSEXTERNALRESOURCEWIDGET_H
 
 class QWebView;
-
-class QVariant;
 class QgsPixmapLabel;
 
 #include <QWidget>
+#include <QVariant>
 
 #include "qgsfilepickerwidget.h"
 
@@ -52,8 +51,11 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsExternalResourceWidget : public QWidget
 
     explicit QgsExternalResourceWidget( QWidget *parent = 0 );
 
-    //! returns the value of the widget
-    QVariant documentPath();
+    /**
+     * @brief documentPath returns the path of the current document in the widget
+     * @param type determines the type of the returned null variant if the document is not defined yet
+     */
+    QVariant documentPath( QVariant::Type type = QVariant::String ) const;
     void setDocumentPath( QVariant documentPath );
 
     //! access the file picker widget to allow its configuration
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsfilepickerwidget.cpp b/src/gui/qgsfilepickerwidget.cpp
index b6cfa98fe277..092bdd9e32d3 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsfilepickerwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/qgsfilepickerwidget.cpp
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ QString QgsFilePickerWidget::filePath()
 
 void QgsFilePickerWidget::setFilePath( QString path )
 {
+  if ( path == QSettings().value( "qgis/nullValue", "NULL" ) )
+  {
+    path = "";
+  }
   mFilePath = path;
   mLineEdit->setText( path );
   mLinkLabel->setText( toUrl( path ) );
@@ -188,7 +192,12 @@ void QgsFilePickerWidget::openFileDialog()
   QUrl theUrl = QUrl::fromUserInput( oldPath );
   if ( !theUrl.isValid() )
   {
-    oldPath = settings.value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDir", QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() ) ).toString();
+    QString defPath = QDir::cleanPath( QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().absolutePath() );
+    if ( defPath.isEmpty() )
+    {
+      defPath = QDir::homePath();
+    }
+    oldPath = settings.value( "/UI/lastExternalResourceWidgetDefaultPath", defPath ).toString();
   }
 
   // Handle Storage
@@ -219,7 +228,7 @@ void QgsFilePickerWidget::openFileDialog()
   else if ( mStorageMode == Directory )
   {
     settings.setValue( "/UI/lastFileNameWidgetDir", fileName );
-}
+  }
 
   // Handle relative Path storage
   fileName = relativePath( fileName, true );
@@ -252,7 +261,7 @@ QString QgsFilePickerWidget::relativePath( QString filePath, bool removeRelative
 }
 
 
-QString QgsFilePickerWidget::toUrl(const QString& path ) const
+QString QgsFilePickerWidget::toUrl( const QString& path ) const
 {
   QString rep;
   if ( path.isEmpty() )