diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 376f8efacb1c1060ef76586b3916d5ff02c27164..15465d9b3567b44acab0b8d1df77af5eaf0327fc 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
                                        ports: ->(project) { project.persisted? ? VALID_MIRROR_PORTS : VALID_IMPORT_PORTS },
                                        enforce_user: true }, if: [:external_import?, :import_url_changed?]
   validates :star_count, numericality: { greater_than_or_equal_to: 0 }
-  validate :check_limit, on: :create
+  validate :check_personal_projects_limit, on: :create
   validate :check_repository_path_availability, on: :update, if: ->(project) { project.renamed? }
   validate :visibility_level_allowed_by_group, if: -> { changes.has_key?(:visibility_level) }
   validate :visibility_level_allowed_as_fork, if: -> { changes.has_key?(:visibility_level) }
@@ -809,18 +809,22 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
       ::Gitlab::CurrentSettings.mirror_available
   end
 
-  def check_limit
-    unless creator.can_create_project? || namespace.kind == 'group'
-      projects_limit = creator.projects_limit
+  def check_personal_projects_limit
+    # Since this method is called as validation hook, `creator` might not be
+    # present. Since the validation for that will fail, we can just return
+    # early.
+    return if !creator || creator.can_create_project? ||
+        namespace.kind == 'group'
 
-      if projects_limit == 0
-        self.errors.add(:limit_reached, "Personal project creation is not allowed. Please contact your administrator with questions")
+    limit = creator.projects_limit
+    error =
+      if limit.zero?
+        _('Personal project creation is not allowed. Please contact your administrator with questions')
       else
-        self.errors.add(:limit_reached, "Your project limit is #{projects_limit} projects! Please contact your administrator to increase it")
+        _('Your project limit is %{limit} projects! Please contact your administrator to increase it')
       end
-    end
-  rescue
-    self.errors.add(:base, "Can't check your ability to create project")
+
+    self.errors.add(:limit_reached, error % { limit: limit })
   end
 
   def visibility_level_allowed_by_group
diff --git a/locale/gitlab.pot b/locale/gitlab.pot
index 404cb0793714ad2fd0aa88354aab66bfdf32d6f5..85628ba030b9566e38c66813b20e84ecf9e526f1 100644
--- a/locale/gitlab.pot
+++ b/locale/gitlab.pot
@@ -4934,6 +4934,9 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Personal Access Token"
 msgstr ""
 
+msgid "Personal project creation is not allowed. Please contact your administrator with questions"
+msgstr ""
+
 msgid "Pick a name"
 msgstr ""
 
@@ -8145,6 +8148,9 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Your name"
 msgstr ""
 
+msgid "Your project limit is %{limit} projects! Please contact your administrator to increase it"
+msgstr ""
+
 msgid "Your projects"
 msgstr ""
 
diff --git a/spec/models/project_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
index 08eed9c06de96b43f673d74a887a1796ccce5a1f..7a8dc59039eabe7fc486ca0bd9643f24d2a783b9 100644
--- a/spec/models/project_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
@@ -209,9 +209,14 @@ describe Project do
 
     it 'does not allow new projects beyond user limits' do
       project2 = build(:project)
-      allow(project2).to receive(:creator).and_return(double(can_create_project?: false, projects_limit: 0).as_null_object)
+
+      allow(project2)
+        .to receive(:creator)
+        .and_return(
+          double(can_create_project?: false, projects_limit: 0).as_null_object
+        )
+
       expect(project2).not_to be_valid
-      expect(project2.errors[:limit_reached].first).to match(/Personal project creation is not allowed/)
     end
 
     describe 'wiki path conflict' do
@@ -4431,6 +4436,75 @@ describe Project do
     end
   end
 
+  describe '#check_personal_projects_limit' do
+    context 'when creating a project for a group' do
+      it 'does nothing' do
+        creator = build(:user)
+        project = build(:project, namespace: build(:group), creator: creator)
+
+        allow(creator)
+          .to receive(:can_create_project?)
+          .and_return(false)
+
+        project.check_personal_projects_limit
+
+        expect(project.errors).to be_empty
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the user is not allowed to create a personal project' do
+      let(:user) { build(:user) }
+      let(:project) { build(:project, creator: user) }
+
+      before do
+        allow(user)
+          .to receive(:can_create_project?)
+          .and_return(false)
+      end
+
+      context 'when the project limit is zero' do
+        it 'adds a validation error' do
+          allow(user)
+            .to receive(:projects_limit)
+            .and_return(0)
+
+          project.check_personal_projects_limit
+
+          expect(project.errors[:limit_reached].first)
+            .to match(/Personal project creation is not allowed/)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when the project limit is greater than zero' do
+        it 'adds a validation error' do
+          allow(user)
+            .to receive(:projects_limit)
+            .and_return(5)
+
+          project.check_personal_projects_limit
+
+          expect(project.errors[:limit_reached].first)
+            .to match(/Your project limit is 5 projects/)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the user is allowed to create personal projects' do
+      it 'does nothing' do
+        user = build(:user)
+        project = build(:project, creator: user)
+
+        allow(user)
+          .to receive(:can_create_project?)
+          .and_return(true)
+
+        project.check_personal_projects_limit
+
+        expect(project.errors).to be_empty
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   def rugged_config
     rugged_repo(project.repository).config
   end