diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c7829cfe3..07f6de541 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+## 1.4.1
+
+February 1, 2017
+
+- Default `null` status in datafile to `Not started`
+
 ## 1.4.0
 
 January 31, 2017
diff --git a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/Experiment.java b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/Experiment.java
index 6ac00d1e2..b8bfc99e9 100644
--- a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/Experiment.java
+++ b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/Experiment.java
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ public Experiment(@JsonProperty("id") String id,
 
     public Experiment(@Nonnull String id,
                       @Nonnull String key,
-                      @Nonnull String status,
+                      @Nullable String status,
                       @Nullable String layerId,
                       @Nonnull List<String> audienceIds,
                       @Nonnull List<Variation> variations,
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public Experiment(@Nonnull String id,
                       @Nonnull String groupId) {
         this.id = id;
         this.key = key;
-        this.status = status;
+        this.status = status == null ? ExperimentStatus.NOT_STARTED.toString() : status;
         this.layerId = layerId;
         this.audienceIds = Collections.unmodifiableList(audienceIds);
         this.variations = Collections.unmodifiableList(variations);
diff --git a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/GsonHelpers.java b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/GsonHelpers.java
index c9639abe0..0031a4098 100644
--- a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/GsonHelpers.java
+++ b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/GsonHelpers.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;
 
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment;
+import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment.ExperimentStatus;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.LiveVariableUsageInstance;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.TrafficAllocation;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Variation;
@@ -86,7 +87,10 @@ static List<TrafficAllocation> parseTrafficAllocation(JsonArray trafficAllocatio
     static Experiment parseExperiment(JsonObject experimentJson, String groupId, JsonDeserializationContext context) {
         String id = experimentJson.get("id").getAsString();
         String key = experimentJson.get("key").getAsString();
-        String status = experimentJson.get("status").getAsString();
+        JsonElement experimentStatusJson = experimentJson.get("status");
+        String status = experimentStatusJson.isJsonNull() ?
+                ExperimentStatus.NOT_STARTED.toString() : experimentStatusJson.getAsString();
+
         JsonElement layerIdJson = experimentJson.get("layerId");
         String layerId = layerIdJson == null ? null : layerIdJson.getAsString();
 
diff --git a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonConfigParser.java b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonConfigParser.java
index a7068a18c..a614ae6ef 100644
--- a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonConfigParser.java
+++ b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonConfigParser.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.audience.UserAttribute;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.EventType;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment;
+import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment.ExperimentStatus;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Group;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.LiveVariable;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.LiveVariableUsageInstance;
@@ -101,7 +102,8 @@ private List<Experiment> parseExperiments(JSONArray experimentJson, String group
             JSONObject experimentObject = (JSONObject)obj;
             String id = experimentObject.getString("id");
             String key = experimentObject.getString("key");
-            String status = experimentObject.getString("status");
+            String status = experimentObject.isNull("status") ?
+                    ExperimentStatus.NOT_STARTED.toString() : experimentObject.getString("status");
             String layerId = experimentObject.has("layerId") ? experimentObject.getString("layerId") : null;
 
             JSONArray audienceIdsJson = experimentObject.getJSONArray("audienceIds");
diff --git a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonSimpleConfigParser.java b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonSimpleConfigParser.java
index 95c804ee9..d0bbd435a 100644
--- a/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonSimpleConfigParser.java
+++ b/core-api/src/main/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/parser/JsonSimpleConfigParser.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.audience.UserAttribute;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.EventType;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment;
+import com.optimizely.ab.config.Experiment.ExperimentStatus;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.Group;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.LiveVariable;
 import com.optimizely.ab.config.LiveVariableUsageInstance;
@@ -103,7 +104,9 @@ private List<Experiment> parseExperiments(JSONArray experimentJson, String group
             JSONObject experimentObject = (JSONObject)obj;
             String id = (String)experimentObject.get("id");
             String key = (String)experimentObject.get("key");
-            String status = (String)experimentObject.get("status");
+            Object statusJson = experimentObject.get("status");
+            String status = statusJson == null ? ExperimentStatus.NOT_STARTED.toString() :
+                    (String)experimentObject.get("status");
             Object layerIdObject = experimentObject.get("layerId");
             String layerId = layerIdObject == null ? null : (String)layerIdObject;
 
diff --git a/core-api/src/test/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/ProjectConfigTestUtils.java b/core-api/src/test/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/ProjectConfigTestUtils.java
index 15459344e..483100f47 100644
--- a/core-api/src/test/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/ProjectConfigTestUtils.java
+++ b/core-api/src/test/java/com/optimizely/ab/config/ProjectConfigTestUtils.java
@@ -197,6 +197,14 @@ private static ProjectConfig generateValidProjectConfigV2() {
                            Collections.singletonMap("testUser3", "vtag3"),
                            asList(new TrafficAllocation("278", 4500),
                                   new TrafficAllocation("279", 9000)),
+                           ""),
+            new Experiment("119", "etag3", "Not started", null,
+                           singletonList("100"),
+                           asList(new Variation("280", "vtag5"),
+                                  new Variation("281", "vtag6")),
+                           Collections.singletonMap("testUser4", "vtag5"),
+                           asList(new TrafficAllocation("280", 4500),
+                                  new TrafficAllocation("281", 9000)),
                            "")
         );
 
diff --git a/core-api/src/test/resources/config/valid-project-config-v2.json b/core-api/src/test/resources/config/valid-project-config-v2.json
index e597e6493..3645a1088 100644
--- a/core-api/src/test/resources/config/valid-project-config-v2.json
+++ b/core-api/src/test/resources/config/valid-project-config-v2.json
@@ -56,6 +56,32 @@
         "entityId": "279",
         "endOfRange": 9000
       }]
+    },
+    {
+      "id": "119",
+      "key": "etag3",
+      "status": null,
+      "layerId": "2",
+      "audienceIds": [
+        "100"
+      ],
+      "variations": [{
+        "id": "280",
+        "key": "vtag5"
+      }, {
+        "id": "281",
+        "key": "vtag6"
+      }],
+      "forcedVariations": {
+        "testUser4": "vtag5"
+      },
+      "trafficAllocation": [{
+        "entityId": "280",
+        "endOfRange": 4500
+      }, {
+        "entityId": "281",
+        "endOfRange": 9000
+      }]
     }
   ],
   "groups": [{
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 1a0ef0594..dc54603b0 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Maven version
-version = 1.4.0-SNAPSHOT
+version = 1.4.1-SNAPSHOT
 
 # Artifact paths
 mavenS3Bucket = optimizely-maven