diff --git a/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_alter_message_eml.py b/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_alter_message_eml.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e7cc317
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_alter_message_eml.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.23 on 2023-12-16 23:27
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('django_mailbox', '0008_auto_20190219_1553'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='message',
+            name='eml',
+            field=models.FileField(blank=True, help_text='Original full content of message', null=True, upload_to='messages', verbose_name='Raw message contents'),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/django_mailbox/models.py b/django_mailbox/models.py
index 1b0da895..fec57d65 100644
--- a/django_mailbox/models.py
+++ b/django_mailbox/models.py
@@ -576,6 +576,7 @@ class Message(models.Model):
     eml = models.FileField(
         _('Raw message contents'),
         null=True,
+        blank=True,
         upload_to="messages",
         help_text=_('Original full content of message')
     )
diff --git a/manage.py b/manage.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755