diff --git a/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service.rb b/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service.rb
index 1d8a6885260..9de3dec4f05 100644
--- a/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service.rb
+++ b/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ module MicrosoftSync
     # Returns the hash of the new course, including the 'id' key
     def create_education_class(course)
       graph_service.create_education_class(
-        description: course.public_description,
+        description: course.public_description.presence,
         displayName: course.name,
         externalId: course.uuid,
         externalName: course.name,
diff --git a/spec/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service_spec.rb b/spec/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service_spec.rb
index 9f76a974979..b7ddbf2af61 100644
--- a/spec/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/microsoft_sync/canvas_graph_service_spec.rb
@@ -53,10 +53,21 @@ describe MicrosoftSync::CanvasGraphService do
         mailNickname: "Course_math_101-#{@course.uuid.first(13)}",
       ).and_return('foo')
 
-
       expect(subject.create_education_class(@course)).to eq('foo')
     end
 
+    context 'when the course has a empty string for a description' do
+      # Microsoft API seems to have a problem with description being an empty
+      # string
+      it 'sends nil instead of the empty string' do
+        course_model(public_description: '', name: 'math 101')
+        expect(graph_service).to receive(:create_education_class).with(
+          hash_including(description: nil)
+        ).and_return('foo')
+        subject.create_education_class(@course)
+      end
+    end
+
     context 'when the course code contains special characters' do
       let(:course_code) { '{{math🔥一241!&?' }