diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js b/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js
index 2112342aebeb6ad778c32eee4ad37569cbfd80cd..2090a7e12d60445b1cb5e220dd589538654723e9 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ import Group from './group';
 import GroupName from './group_name';
 import GroupsList from './groups_list';
 import ProjectsList from './projects_list';
-import ProjectEdit from './project_edit';
+import setupProjectEdit from './project_edit';
 import MiniPipelineGraph from './mini_pipeline_graph_dropdown';
 import BlobLinePermalinkUpdater from './blob/blob_line_permalink_updater';
 import Landing from './landing';
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ import ShortcutsBlob from './shortcuts_blob';
           }
           break;
         case 'projects:edit':
-          new ProjectEdit();
+          setupProjectEdit();
           break;
         case 'projects:pipelines:builds':
         case 'projects:pipelines:failures':
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/project_edit.js b/app/assets/javascripts/project_edit.js
index 042ec8e4494d538012148b8f0bded16ead0f4b81..d7d284b6c86ff132be1818c2c255c212b632e0fa 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/project_edit.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/project_edit.js
@@ -1,16 +1,9 @@
-export default class ProjectEdit {
-  constructor() {
-    this.transferForm = $('.js-project-transfer-form');
-    this.selectNamespace = $('.js-project-transfer-form').find('.select2');
+export default function setupProjectEdit() {
+  const $transferForm = $('.js-project-transfer-form');
+  const $selectNamespace = $transferForm.find('.select2');
 
-    this.selectNamespaceChangedWrapper = this.selectNamespaceChanged.bind(this);
-    this.selectNamespace.on('change', this.selectNamespaceChangedWrapper);
-    this.selectNamespaceChanged();
-  }
-
-  selectNamespaceChanged() {
-    const selectedNamespaceValue = this.selectNamespace.val();
-
-    this.transferForm.find(':submit').prop('disabled', !selectedNamespaceValue);
-  }
+  $selectNamespace.on('change', () => {
+    $transferForm.find(':submit').prop('disabled', !$selectNamespace.val());
+  });
+  $selectNamespace.trigger('change');
 }
diff --git a/app/services/projects/transfer_service.rb b/app/services/projects/transfer_service.rb
index a5e5d713ebd0f103295a9793b97dba2fe7113e41..eae352d35ce1c4e377d491a3b1c6545da213fa4a 100644
--- a/app/services/projects/transfer_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/projects/transfer_service.rb
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ module Projects
         transfer(project, new_namespace)
       else
         error_message = if new_namespace.blank? 
-                          'Please select a namespace to transfer the project to'
+                          'Please select a new namespace for your project.'
                         else
-                          'Transfer failed, please contact an admin'
+                          'Transfer failed, please contact an admin.'
                         end
         project.errors.add(:new_namespace, error_message)
         false
diff --git a/app/views/projects/edit.html.haml b/app/views/projects/edit.html.haml
index 435d5f4aa87689eca490d91b76d6f5de106162e5..f5549d7f4cde80efad4a32e3b22882d72e312b5f 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/edit.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/edit.html.haml
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@
         = form_for([@project.namespace.becomes(Namespace), @project], url: transfer_namespace_project_path(@project.namespace, @project), method: :put, remote: true, html: { class: 'js-project-transfer-form' } ) do |f|
           .form-group
             = label_tag :new_namespace_id, nil, class: 'label-light' do
-              %span  Select namespace to transfer to
+              %span  Select a new namespace
             .form-group
               = select_tag :new_namespace_id, namespaces_options(nil), include_blank: true, class: 'select2'
             %ul
diff --git a/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
index f117598555b3a6f0fd044e46a6a789524009eb55..5f9c747634c1b2f9c994aba14c3b10a0543b3913 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ describe ProjectsController do
 
         expect(project.namespace.id).to eq(old_namespace_id)
         expect(response).to have_http_status(200) 
-        expect(flash[:alert]).to eq 'Please select a namespace to transfer the project to'
+        expect(flash[:alert]).to eq 'Please select a new namespace for your project.'
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/services/projects/transfer_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/projects/transfer_service_spec.rb
index 5c872047bdfd0aa3fa4f66fd1e84577cc75021ce..2bddb6f3e422dac18394a609a3cf87fac6b52b19 100644
--- a/spec/services/projects/transfer_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/projects/transfer_service_spec.rb
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe Projects::TransferService, services: true do
 
     it { expect(@result).to eq false }
     it { expect(project.namespace).to eq(user.namespace) }
-    it { expect(project.errors.messages[:new_namespace][0]).to eq 'Please select a namespace to transfer the project to' }
+    it { expect(project.errors.messages[:new_namespace][0]).to eq 'Please select a new namespace for your project.' }
   end
 
   context 'disallow transfering of project with tags' do