diff --git a/lib/document_handler.js b/lib/document_handler.js
index 376aeb1..ff4d9bb 100644
--- a/lib/document_handler.js
+++ b/lib/document_handler.js
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ DocumentHandler.prototype.handlePost = function (request, response) {
           winston.verbose('error adding document');
           response.writeHead(500, { 'content-type': 'application/json' });
           response.end(JSON.stringify({ message: 'invalid JSON received.' }));
+          return;
         }
     }