diff --git a/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js b/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
index 04cac79e..15565e2b 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ o._releaseTemplateLock = function(owner, tpl_id, callback) {
     this._redisCmd('HDEL', [this.key_usr_tpl_lck({owner:owner}), tpl_id], callback);
 };
 
-o._reValidIdentifier = /^[a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z_]*$/;
+var _reValidIdentifier = /^[a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z_]*$/;
 o._checkInvalidTemplate = function(template) {
   if ( template.version != '0.0.1' ) {
     return new Error("Unsupported template version " + template.version);
@@ -129,21 +129,25 @@ o._checkInvalidTemplate = function(template) {
   if ( ! tplname ) {
     return new Error("Missing template name");
   }
-  if ( ! tplname.match(this._reValidIdentifier) ) {
+  if ( ! tplname.match(_reValidIdentifier) ) {
     return new Error("Invalid characters in template name '" + tplname + "'");
   }
 
-  var phold = template.placeholders;
-  for (var k in phold) {
-    if ( ! k.match(this._reValidIdentifier) ) {
-      return new Error("Invalid characters in placeholder name '" + k + "'");
-    }
-    if ( ! phold[k].hasOwnProperty('default') ) {
-      return new Error("Missing default for placeholder '" + k + "'");
-    }
-    if ( ! phold[k].hasOwnProperty('type') ) {
-      return new Error("Missing type for placeholder '" + k + "'");
-    }
+  var placeholders = template.placeholders || {};
+
+  var placeholderKeys = Object.keys(placeholders);
+  for (var i = 0, len = placeholderKeys.length; i < len; i++) {
+      var placeholderKey = placeholderKeys[i];
+
+      if (!placeholderKey.match(_reValidIdentifier)) {
+          return new Error("Invalid characters in placeholder name '" + placeholderKey + "'");
+      }
+      if ( ! placeholders[placeholderKey].hasOwnProperty('default') ) {
+          return new Error("Missing default for placeholder '" + placeholderKey + "'");
+      }
+      if ( ! placeholders[placeholderKey].hasOwnProperty('type') ) {
+          return new Error("Missing type for placeholder '" + placeholderKey + "'");
+      }
   }
 
   // Check certificate validity
@@ -545,8 +549,8 @@ _replaceVars = function(str, params) {
 };
 o.instance = function(template, params) {
   var all_params = {};
-  var phold = template.placeholders;
-  for (var k in phold) {
+  var phold = template.placeholders || {};
+  Object.keys(phold).forEach(function(k) {
     var val = params.hasOwnProperty(k) ? params[k] : phold[k].default;
     var type = phold[k].type;
     // properly escape
@@ -578,7 +582,7 @@ o.instance = function(template, params) {
       throw new Error("Invalid placeholder type '" + type + "'");
     }
     all_params[k] = val;
-  }
+  });
 
   // NOTE: we're deep-cloning the layergroup here
   var layergroup = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(template.layergroup));