diff --git a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
index df5b5ab30..fb2113de4 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
@@ -130,10 +130,14 @@ def id_to_username(user_id):
 
 
 @register.filter(name="get_file_size")
-def get_file_size(raw_size):
+def get_file_size(nbytes):
     """display the size of a file in human readable terms"""
 
     try:
+        raw_size = float(nbytes)
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        return repr(nbytes)
+    else:
         if raw_size < 1024:
             return f"{raw_size} bytes"
         if raw_size < 1024**2:
@@ -142,10 +146,6 @@ def get_file_size(raw_size):
             return f"{raw_size/1024**2:.2f} MB"
         return f"{raw_size/1024**3:.2f} GB"
 
-    except Exception as error:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
-        print(error)
-        return ""
-
 
 @register.filter(name="get_user_permission")
 def get_user_permission(user):