diff --git a/src/lib/index.js b/src/lib/index.js
index 1639ba06e07..9ec4313587e 100644
--- a/src/lib/index.js
+++ b/src/lib/index.js
@@ -989,11 +989,14 @@ lib.templateString = function(string, obj) {
     var getterCache = {};
 
     return string.replace(lib.TEMPLATE_STRING_REGEX, function(dummy, key) {
+        var v;
         if(SIMPLE_PROPERTY_REGEX.test(key)) {
-            return obj[key] || '';
+            v = obj[key];
+        } else {
+            getterCache[key] = getterCache[key] || lib.nestedProperty(obj, key).get;
+            v = getterCache[key]();
         }
-        getterCache[key] = getterCache[key] || lib.nestedProperty(obj, key).get;
-        return getterCache[key]() || '';
+        return lib.isValidTextValue(v) ? v : '';
     });
 };
 
diff --git a/src/plot_api/validate.js b/src/plot_api/validate.js
index 0fccac8c55c..f24994ea235 100644
--- a/src/plot_api/validate.js
+++ b/src/plot_api/validate.js
@@ -161,13 +161,14 @@ function crawl(objIn, objOut, schema, list, base, path) {
         var valOut = objOut[k];
 
         var nestedSchema = getNestedSchema(schema, k);
-        var isInfoArray = (nestedSchema || {}).valType === 'info_array';
-        var isColorscale = (nestedSchema || {}).valType === 'colorscale';
+        var nestedValType = (nestedSchema || {}).valType;
+        var isInfoArray = nestedValType === 'info_array';
+        var isColorscale = nestedValType === 'colorscale';
         var items = (nestedSchema || {}).items;
 
         if(!isInSchema(schema, k)) {
             list.push(format('schema', base, p));
-        } else if(isPlainObject(valIn) && isPlainObject(valOut)) {
+        } else if(isPlainObject(valIn) && isPlainObject(valOut) && nestedValType !== 'any') {
             crawl(valIn, valOut, nestedSchema, list, base, p);
         } else if(isInfoArray && isArray(valIn)) {
             if(valIn.length > valOut.length) {
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/lib_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/lib_test.js
index 34d5d2c43a6..4105e5455ea 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/lib_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/lib_test.js
@@ -2229,6 +2229,14 @@ describe('Test lib.js:', function() {
         it('replaces empty key with empty string', function() {
             expect(Lib.templateString('foo %{} %{}', {})).toEqual('foo  ');
         });
+
+        it('should work with the number *0*', function() {
+            expect(Lib.templateString('%{group}', {group: 0})).toEqual('0');
+        });
+
+        it('should work with the number *0* (nested case)', function() {
+            expect(Lib.templateString('%{x.y}', {'x': {y: 0}})).toEqual('0');
+        });
     });
 
     describe('hovertemplateString', function() {
@@ -2249,6 +2257,14 @@ describe('Test lib.js:', function() {
             expect(Lib.hovertemplateString('foo %{bar[0].baz}', {}, locale, {bar: [{baz: 'asdf'}]})).toEqual('foo asdf');
         });
 
+        it('should work with the number *0*', function() {
+            expect(Lib.hovertemplateString('%{group}', {}, locale, {group: 0})).toEqual('0');
+        });
+
+        it('should work with the number *0* (nested case)', function() {
+            expect(Lib.hovertemplateString('%{x.y}', {}, locale, {'x': {y: 0}})).toEqual('0');
+        });
+
         it('subtitutes multiple matches', function() {
             expect(Lib.hovertemplateString('foo %{group} %{trace}', {}, locale, {group: 'asdf', trace: 'jkl;'})).toEqual('foo asdf jkl;');
         });
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/validate_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/validate_test.js
index 46de7d5cb0e..22ae7841f98 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/validate_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/validate_test.js
@@ -640,4 +640,27 @@ describe('Plotly.validate', function() {
         }]);
         expect(out).toBeUndefined();
     });
+
+    it('should not attempt to crawl into nested objects of valType: \'any\' attributes', function() {
+        var out = Plotly.validate([{
+            mode: 'markers',
+            x: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'a', 'b', 'c'],
+            y: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6],
+            transforms: [{
+                type: 'groupby',
+                groups: ['a', 'b', 'c'],
+                styles: [{
+                    target: 'a',
+                    value: {marker: {color: 'blue'}}
+                }, {
+                    target: 'b',
+                    value: {marker: {color: 'red'}}
+                }, {
+                    target: 'c',
+                    value: {marker: {color: 'black'}}
+                }]
+            }]
+        }]);
+        expect(out).toBeUndefined();
+    });
 });