diff --git a/app/controllers/import/gitlab_projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/import/gitlab_projects_controller.rb
index d4063747da4..f7fddde37e6 100644
--- a/app/controllers/import/gitlab_projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/import/gitlab_projects_controller.rb
@@ -12,20 +12,21 @@ class Import::GitlabProjectsController < Import::BaseController
       return redirect_back_or_default(options: { alert: "You need to upload a GitLab project export archive." })
     end
 
-    @project = Gitlab::ImportExport::ProjectCreator.new(Namespace.find(project_params[:namespace_id]),
+    @project = Gitlab::ImportExport::ProjectCreator.new(project_params[:namespace_id],
                                                         current_user,
                                                         File.expand_path(params[:file].path),
                                                         project_params[:path]).execute
 
-    flash[:notice] = "The project import has been started."
-
     if @project.saved?
       redirect_to(
         project_path(@project),
         notice: "Project '#{@project.name}' is being imported."
       )
     else
-      render 'new'
+      redirect_to(
+        new_project_path,
+        alert: "Project could not be exported: #{@project.errors.full_messages.join(', ')}"
+      )
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 323bde5d5c4..9d7b988bf21 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def import?
-    external_import? || forked?
+    external_import? || forked? || gitlab_project_import?
   end
 
   def no_import?
diff --git a/app/services/projects/import_service.rb b/app/services/projects/import_service.rb
index b4b4c34b012..9159ec08959 100644
--- a/app/services/projects/import_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/projects/import_service.rb
@@ -14,22 +14,26 @@ module Projects
     ]
 
     def execute
+      add_repository_to_project unless project.gitlab_project_import?
+
+      import_data
+
+      success
+    rescue => e
+      error(e.message)
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def add_repository_to_project
       if unknown_url?
         # In this case, we only want to import issues, not a repository.
         create_repository
       else
         import_repository
       end
-
-      import_data
-
-      success
-    rescue Error => e
-      error(e.message)
     end
 
-    private
-
     def create_repository
       unless project.create_repository
         raise Error, 'The repository could not be created.'
@@ -38,7 +42,7 @@ module Projects
 
     def import_repository
       begin
-        gitlab_shell.import_repository(project.path_with_namespace, project.import_url) unless @project.gitlab_project_import?
+        gitlab_shell.import_repository(project.path_with_namespace, project.import_url)
       rescue Gitlab::Shell::Error => e
         raise Error,  "Error importing repository #{project.import_url} into #{project.path_with_namespace} - #{e.message}"
       end
@@ -47,7 +51,7 @@ module Projects
     def import_data
       return unless has_importer?
 
-      project.repository.before_import
+      project.repository.before_import unless project.gitlab_project_import?
 
       unless importer.execute
         raise Error, 'The remote data could not be imported.'
@@ -59,7 +63,7 @@ module Projects
     end
 
     def importer
-      return Gitlab::ImportExport::Importer if @project.gitlab_project_import?
+      return Gitlab::ImportExport::Importer.new(project) if @project.gitlab_project_import?
 
       class_name = "Gitlab::#{project.import_type.camelize}Import::Importer"
       class_name.constantize.new(project)
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index bc1112de0f5..024a0df6e44 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ Rails.application.routes.draw do
         post :toggle_star
         post :markdown_preview
         post :export
-        post :download_export
+        get :download_export
         get :autocomplete_sources
         get :activity
       end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/import_export/importer.rb b/lib/gitlab/import_export/importer.rb
index d096e17bdf0..4db9410bba1 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/import_export/importer.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/import_export/importer.rb
@@ -2,24 +2,22 @@ module Gitlab
   module ImportExport
     class Importer
 
-      def self.execute(*args)
-        new(*args).execute
-      end
-
       def initialize(project)
         @archive_file = project.import_source
         @current_user = project.creator
-        @shared = Gitlab::ImportExport::Shared.new(relative_path: path_with_namespace(@project.path))
+        @project = project
+        @shared = Gitlab::ImportExport::Shared.new(relative_path: path_with_namespace)
       end
 
       def execute
         Gitlab::ImportExport::FileImporter.import(archive_file: @archive_file,
                                                   shared: @shared)
         if check_version! && [project_tree, repo_restorer, wiki_restorer, uploads_restorer].all?(&:restore)
-          project_tree.project
+          project_tree.restored_project
         else
-          project_tree.project.destroy if project_tree.project
-          nil
+          project_tree.restored_project.destroy if project_tree.restored_project
+
+          raise Projects::ImportService::Error.new, @shared.errors.join(', ')
         end
       end
 
@@ -38,22 +36,22 @@ module Gitlab
       def repo_restorer
         Gitlab::ImportExport::RepoRestorer.new(path_to_bundle: repo_path,
                                                shared: @shared,
-                                               project: project_tree.project)
+                                               project: project_tree.restored_project)
       end
 
       def wiki_restorer
         Gitlab::ImportExport::RepoRestorer.new(path_to_bundle: wiki_repo_path,
                                                shared: @shared,
-                                               project: ProjectWiki.new(project_tree.project),
+                                               project: ProjectWiki.new(project_tree.restored_project),
                                                wiki: true)
       end
 
       def uploads_restorer
-        Gitlab::ImportExport::UploadsRestorer.new(project: project_tree.project, shared: @shared)
+        Gitlab::ImportExport::UploadsRestorer.new(project: project_tree.restored_project, shared: @shared)
       end
 
-      def path_with_namespace(project_path)
-        File.join(@namespace.path, project_path)
+      def path_with_namespace
+        File.join(@project.namespace.path, @project.path)
       end
 
       def repo_path
@@ -63,18 +61,6 @@ module Gitlab
       def wiki_repo_path
         File.join(@shared.export_path, 'project.wiki.bundle')
       end
-
-      def attributes_for_todo
-        { user_id: @current_user.id,
-          project_id: project_tree.project.id,
-          target_type: 'Project',
-          target: project_tree.project,
-          action: Todo::IMPORTED,
-          author_id: @current_user.id,
-          state: :pending,
-          target_id: project_tree.project.id
-        }
-      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_creator.rb b/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_creator.rb
index 6f1e3867efb..89388d1984b 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_creator.rb
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ module Gitlab
 
       def execute
         ::Projects::CreateService.new(
-          current_user,
+          @current_user,
           name: @project_path,
           path: @project_path,
-          namespace_id: namespace_id,
+          namespace_id: @namespace_id,
           import_type: "gitlab_project",
           import_source: @file
         ).execute
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_tree_restorer.rb b/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_tree_restorer.rb
index 92727528d01..dd71b92c522 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_tree_restorer.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/import_export/project_tree_restorer.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module Gitlab
         false
       end
 
-      def project
+      def restored_project
         @restored_project ||= restore_project
       end
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ module Gitlab
       def members_mapper
         @members_mapper ||= Gitlab::ImportExport::MembersMapper.new(exported_members: @project_members,
                                                                     user: @user,
-                                                                    project: project)
+                                                                    project: restored_project)
       end
 
       # Loops through the tree of models defined in import_export.yml and
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ module Gitlab
 
           relation_key = relation.is_a?(Hash) ? relation.keys.first : relation
           relation_hash = create_relation(relation_key, @tree_hash[relation_key.to_s])
-          saved << project.update_attribute(relation_key, relation_hash)
+          saved << restored_project.update_attribute(relation_key, relation_hash)
         end
         saved.all?
       end
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ module Gitlab
       end
 
       def restore_project
+        return @project unless @tree_hash
+
         project_params = @tree_hash.reject { |_key, value| value.is_a?(Array) }
         @project.update(project_params)
         @project
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ module Gitlab
       def create_relation(relation, relation_hash_list)
         relation_array = [relation_hash_list].flatten.map do |relation_hash|
           Gitlab::ImportExport::RelationFactory.create(relation_sym: relation.to_sym,
-                                                       relation_hash: relation_hash.merge('project_id' => project.id),
+                                                       relation_hash: relation_hash.merge('project_id' => restored_project.id),
                                                        members_mapper: members_mapper,
                                                        user: @user)
         end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/import_export/version_checker.rb b/lib/gitlab/import_export/version_checker.rb
index 4f467760862..cf5c62c5e3c 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/import_export/version_checker.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/import_export/version_checker.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ module Gitlab
   module ImportExport
     class VersionChecker
 
-      def self.restore(*args)
-        new(*args).check
+      def self.check!(*args)
+        new(*args).check!
       end
 
       def initialize(shared:)