diff --git a/indefero/src/IDF/Form/ProjectRequest.php b/indefero/src/IDF/Form/ProjectRequest.php
index a84a0d2..f7fbfb2 100644
--- a/indefero/src/IDF/Form/ProjectRequest.php
+++ b/indefero/src/IDF/Form/ProjectRequest.php
@@ -43,14 +43,9 @@ class IDF_Form_ProjectRequest extends Pluf_Form
         $this->user = $extra['user'];
     }
 
-
-    function save($commit=true)
+    public function clean_shortname()
     {
-        if (!$this->isValid()) {
-            throw new Exception(__('Cannot save the model from an invalid form.'));
-        }
-
-        $shortname = $this->cleaned_data['shortname'];
+        $shortname = mb_strtolower($this->cleaned_data['shortname']);
         if (preg_match('/[^\-A-Za-z0-9]/', $shortname)) {
             throw new Pluf_Form_Invalid(__('This shortname contains illegal characters, please use only letters, digits and dash (-).'));
         }
@@ -61,6 +56,16 @@ class IDF_Form_ProjectRequest extends Pluf_Form
             throw new Pluf_Form_Invalid(__('The shortname cannot end with the dash (-) character.'));
         }
 
+        return trim($shortname);
+    }
+
+
+    function save($commit=true)
+    {
+        if (!$this->isValid()) {
+            throw new Exception(__('Cannot save the model from an invalid form.'));
+        }
+
         $checksql = new Pluf_SQL(sprintf("shortname='%s'", $this->cleaned_data['shortname']));
         $requestcheck = Pluf::factory("IDF_Project")->getCount(array('filter'=>$checksql->gen()));
         if ($requestcheck == 1)
@@ -70,7 +75,7 @@ class IDF_Form_ProjectRequest extends Pluf_Form
             $request = new IDF_ProjectRequest();
 
             // The trim really isn't needed - but does ensure that no whitespace will end up in the name
-            $request->shortname = trim($shortname);
+            $request->shortname = $this->cleaned_data['shortname'];
             $request->repotype = $this->cleaned_data['repotype'];
             $request->desc = $this->cleaned_data['desc'];
             $request->submitter = $this->user;