diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PublishedContent/PublishedContentType.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PublishedContent/PublishedContentType.cs
index 1d168aad1d..cb4463fa6f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PublishedContent/PublishedContentType.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/PublishedContent/PublishedContentType.cs
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models.PublishedContent
 
             _propertyTypes = propertyTypes.ToArray();
 
+            IsElement = contentType.IsElement;
+
             InitializeIndexes();
         }
 
@@ -166,6 +168,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models.PublishedContent
             return index >= 0 && index < _propertyTypes.Length ? _propertyTypes[index] : null;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets a value indicating whether this content type is for an element.
+        /// </summary>
+        public bool IsElement { get; }
+
         #endregion
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.controller.js
index 79e00fa453..d6cc35bacd 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.controller.js
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.controller.js
@@ -285,28 +285,31 @@ angular.module("umbraco").controller("Umbraco.PropertyEditors.NestedContent.Prop
         $scope.scaffolds = [];
         _.each($scope.model.config.contentTypes, function (contentType) {
             contentResource.getScaffold(-20, contentType.ncAlias).then(function (scaffold) {
-                // remove all tabs except the specified tab
-                var tabs = scaffold.variants[0].tabs;
-                var tab = _.find(tabs, function (tab) {
-                    return tab.id != 0 && (tab.alias.toLowerCase() == contentType.ncTabAlias.toLowerCase() || contentType.ncTabAlias == "");
-                });
-                scaffold.tabs = [];
-                if (tab) {
-                    scaffold.tabs.push(tab);
+                // make sure it's an element type before allowing the user to create new ones
+                if (scaffold.isElement) {
+                    // remove all tabs except the specified tab
+                    var tabs = scaffold.variants[0].tabs;
+                    var tab = _.find(tabs, function (tab) {
+                        return tab.id != 0 && (tab.alias.toLowerCase() == contentType.ncTabAlias.toLowerCase() || contentType.ncTabAlias == "");
+                    });
+                    scaffold.tabs = [];
+                    if (tab) {
+                        scaffold.tabs.push(tab);
 
-                    angular.forEach(tab.properties,
-                      function (property) {
-                          if (_.find(notSupported, function (x) { return x === property.editor; })) {
-                              property.notSupported = true;
-                              //TODO: Not supported message to be replaced with 'content_nestedContentEditorNotSupported' dictionary key. Currently not possible due to async/timing quirk.
-                              property.notSupportedMessage = "Property " + property.label + " uses editor " + property.editor + " which is not supported by Nested Content.";
-                          }
-                      });
+                        angular.forEach(tab.properties,
+                            function (property) {
+                                if (_.find(notSupported, function (x) { return x === property.editor; })) {
+                                    property.notSupported = true;
+                                    //TODO: Not supported message to be replaced with 'content_nestedContentEditorNotSupported' dictionary key. Currently not possible due to async/timing quirk.
+                                    property.notSupportedMessage = "Property " + property.label + " uses editor " + property.editor + " which is not supported by Nested Content.";
+                                }
+                            });
+                    }
+
+                    // Store the scaffold object
+                    $scope.scaffolds.push(scaffold);
                 }
 
-                // Store the scaffold object
-                $scope.scaffolds.push(scaffold);
-
                 scaffoldsLoaded++;
                 initIfAllScaffoldsHaveLoaded();
             }, function (error) {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentConfiguration.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentConfiguration.cs
index 44648ee859..b904a2250d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentConfiguration.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentConfiguration.cs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
     /// </summary>
     public class NestedContentConfiguration
     {
-        [ConfigurationField("contentTypes", "Doc Types", "views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.doctypepicker.html", Description = "Select the doc types to use as the data blueprint.")]
+        [ConfigurationField("contentTypes", "Document types", "views/propertyeditors/nestedcontent/nestedcontent.doctypepicker.html", Description = "Select the document types to use as the item blueprints. Only \"element\" types can be used.")]
         public ContentType[] ContentTypes { get; set; }
 
         [ConfigurationField("minItems", "Min Items", "number", Description = "Set the minimum number of items allowed.")]
@@ -38,4 +38,4 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
             public string Template { get; set; }
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentController.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentController.cs
index 103967d20a..8d144c5904 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentController.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/NestedContentController.cs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
         public IEnumerable<object> GetContentTypes()
         {
             return Services.ContentTypeService.GetAll()
+                .Where(x => x.IsElement)
                 .OrderBy(x => x.SortOrder)
                 .Select(x => new
                 {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/ValueConverters/NestedContentValueConverterBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/ValueConverters/NestedContentValueConverterBase.cs
index 7e9b1dfe88..e3723e2221 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/ValueConverters/NestedContentValueConverterBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/ValueConverters/NestedContentValueConverterBase.cs
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors.ValueConverters
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(elementTypeAlias))
                 return null;
 
+            // only convert element types - content types will cause an exception when PublishedModelFactory creates the model
             var publishedContentType = _publishedSnapshotAccessor.PublishedSnapshot.Content.GetContentType(elementTypeAlias);
-            if (publishedContentType == null)
+            if (publishedContentType == null || publishedContentType.IsElement == false)
                 return null;
 
             var propertyValues = sourceObject.ToObject<Dictionary<string, object>>();