diff --git a/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/main/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/RunFlowTask.groovy b/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/main/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/RunFlowTask.groovy
index 1e14fc0e1c..9c448362a3 100644
--- a/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/main/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/RunFlowTask.groovy
+++ b/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/main/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/RunFlowTask.groovy
@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ class RunFlowTask extends HubTask {
         }
 
         DatabaseClient sourceClient = null
-        if (sourceDB != null) {
-            sourceClient = hubConfig.newStagingClient(project.property("sourceDB"))
+
+        if (sourceDB != null && !sourceDB.isAllWhitespace()) {
+            sourceClient = hubConfig.newStagingClient(sourceDB)
         }
         else if (project.hasProperty("sourceDB")) {
             sourceClient = hubConfig.newStagingClient(project.property("sourceDB"))
diff --git a/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/test/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/CreateHarmonizeFlowTaskTest.groovy b/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/test/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/CreateHarmonizeFlowTaskTest.groovy
index 35e395c06b..009724d39b 100644
--- a/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/test/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/CreateHarmonizeFlowTaskTest.groovy
+++ b/ml-data-hub-plugin/src/test/groovy/com/marklogic/gradle/task/CreateHarmonizeFlowTaskTest.groovy
@@ -40,6 +40,24 @@ class CreateHarmonizeFlowTaskTest extends BaseTest {
         result.task(":hubCreateHarmonizeFlow").outcome == FAILED
     }
 
+    def "createHarmonizeFlow with bad sourceDB"() {
+        given:
+        propertiesFile << """
+            ext {
+                entityName=my-new-entity
+                sourceDB=12345678      
+            }
+        """
+
+        when:
+        def result = runFailTask('hubCreateHarmonizeFlow')
+
+        then:
+        notThrown(UnexpectedBuildSuccess)
+        result.output.contains('sourceDB must be a valid name')
+        result.task(":hubCreateHarmonizeFlow").outcome == FAILED
+    }
+
     def "createHarmonizeFlow with valid name"() {
         given:
         propertiesFile << """