diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 3eefcb9..7dea76e 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.0.0
+1.0.1
diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index 90d585c..58ca26b 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Version: 1.0.1
+  Bugfixes:
+    - fix crash when renaming a site without a name tag (e.g., new site)
+  Changes:
+    - create sites with an empty string as a name tag instead of nil
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Version: 1.0.0
 Date: 2024-12-18
   Bugfixes:
diff --git a/info.json b/info.json
index a2e8a7b..7bef594 100644
--- a/info.json
+++ b/info.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name": "YARM",
-    "version": "1.0.0",
+    "version": "1.0.1",
     "factorio_version": "2.0",
     "title": "YARM - Resource Monitor",
     "author": "Mithaldu (current maintainer) and Narc",
diff --git a/resmon/click.lua b/resmon/click.lua
index 00f824a..0c6a640 100644
--- a/resmon/click.lua
+++ b/resmon/click.lua
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ function handlers.YARM_rename_site(event)
         caption = { "YARM-site-rename-title", resmon.locale.site_display_name(site, format) },
         direction = "horizontal" }
 
-    root.add { type = "textfield", name = "new_name" }.text = site.name_tag
+    root.add { type = "textfield", name = "new_name" }.text = site.name_tag or ""
     root.add { type = "button", name = "YARM_rename_cancel", caption = { "YARM-site-rename-cancel" }, style = "back_button" }
     root.add { type = "button", name = "YARM_rename_confirm", caption = { "YARM-site-rename-confirm" }, style = "confirm_button" }
 
diff --git a/resmon/types.lua b/resmon/types.lua
index 355d6e3..87c9cf8 100644
--- a/resmon/types.lua
+++ b/resmon/types.lua
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ function types_module.new_site(player, entity)
         is_summary = false, -- true for summary sites generated by resmon.sites.generate_summaries
         site_count = 0,     -- nonzero only for summaries (see above), where it contains the number of sites being summarized
         index = 0,
-        name_tag = nil,     -- Player-set name tag added to the site display name
+        name_tag = "",     -- Player-set name tag added to the site display name
         added_at = game.tick,
         surface = entity.surface, ---@type LuaSurface
         force = player.force,