diff --git a/actions/newnotice.php b/actions/newnotice.php
index 6d98c820cc..64fe2494b8 100644
--- a/actions/newnotice.php
+++ b/actions/newnotice.php
@@ -49,12 +49,12 @@ class NewnoticeAction extends Action {
 			$this->show_form(_t('No content!'));
 			return;
 		} else if (strlen($notice->content) > 140) {
-			$this->show_form(_t('Notice content too long.'));
+			$this->show_form(_t('That\'s too long. Max notice size is 140 chars.'));
 			return;
 		}
 
 		$id = $notice->insert();
-		
+
 		if (!$id) {
 			common_server_error(_t('Problem saving notice.'));
 			return;
@@ -62,12 +62,12 @@ class NewnoticeAction extends Action {
 
 		$orig = clone($notice);
 		$notice->uri = common_notice_uri($notice);
-		
+
 		if (!$notice->update($orig)) {
 			common_server_error(_t('Problem saving notice.'));
 			return;
 		}
-		
+
 		common_broadcast_notice($notice);
 		$returnto = $this->trimmed('returnto');
 		if ($returnto) {
@@ -80,15 +80,17 @@ class NewnoticeAction extends Action {
 		common_redirect($url, 303);
 	}
 
-	function show_top($msg=NULL) {
-		if ($msg) {
-			common_element('div', 'error', $msg);
-		}
+	function show_top($content=NULL) {
+		common_notice_form(NULL, $content);
 	}
-	
+
 	function show_form($msg=NULL) {
-		common_show_header(_t('New notice'), NULL, $msg, array($this, 'show_top'));
-		common_notice_form();
+		$content = $this->trimmed('status_textarea');
+		common_show_header(_t('New notice'), NULL, $content,
+		                   array($this, 'show_top'));
+		if ($msg) {
+			common_element('p', 'error', $msg);
+		}
 		common_show_footer();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index e50582d1a9..04eb2094ec 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ function common_profile_url($nickname) {
 
 # Don't call if nobody's logged in
 
-function common_notice_form($action=NULL) {
+function common_notice_form($action=NULL, $content=NULL) {
 	$user = common_current_user();
 	assert(!is_null($user));
 	common_element_start('form', array('id' => 'status_form',
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ function common_notice_form($action=NULL) {
 				   _t('What\'s up, ').$user->nickname.'?');
 	common_element('textarea', array('id' => 'status_textarea',
 									 'name' => 'status_textarea'),
-				   ' ');
+				   ($content) ? $content : ' ');
 	if ($action) {
 		common_hidden('returnto', $action);
 	}