diff -r 131f8cd2c2b4 -r a6c18628dff1 mercurial/hgweb/webcommands.py
--- a/mercurial/hgweb/webcommands.py	Fri Jun 30 03:45:42 2017 +0200
+++ b/mercurial/hgweb/webcommands.py	Fri Jun 30 03:45:43 2017 +0200
@@ -719,8 +719,11 @@
     start = max(0, count - web.maxchanges)
     end = min(count, start + web.maxchanges)
 
+    desc = web.config("web", "description")
+    if not desc:
+        desc = 'unknown'
     return tmpl("summary",
-                desc=web.config("web", "description", "unknown"),
+                desc=desc,
                 owner=get_contact(web.config) or "unknown",
                 lastchange=tip.date(),
                 tags=tagentries,