ASP.NET mvc validation label on dropdownlist with integer value? <p>I'm working on an ASP.NET MVC 4 project and I have an issue with displaying the right validation label for an integer field. </p> <p>Here is my model properties:</p> <pre><code>[Required(ErrorMessage = "Please enter the title.")] public string Title { get; set; } [Required(ErrorMessage = "Please select a country.")] public int RegionId { get; set; } </code></pre> <p>Here is my cshtml:</p> <pre><code>@Html.TextBoxFor(m =&gt; m.article.Title, new { @placeholder = "Title", @autofocus = true }) @Html.ValidationMessageFor(m =&gt; m.article.Title) @(Html.Kendo().DropDownList() .Name("RegionControl") .DataTextField("Name") .DataValueField("RegionId") .OptionLabel("Select one...") .Events(e =&gt; e.Change("RegionChange").DataBound("RegionDataBound")) .BindTo(Model.regions) .Value(Model.article.RegionId.ToString()) @Html.ValidationMessageFor(m =&gt; m.article.RegionId) </code></pre> <p>My problem is that the validation message for Title is displaying fine <code>("Please enter the title.")</code>, BUT the validation for the dropdownlist is the default one <code>("The value 'NaN' is not valid for RegionId.")</code>.</p> <p>Why is the validation message for RegionId not displaying the message I set in the model <code>("Please select a country.")</code>? Is it due to the default value <code>(OptionLabel)</code>? How can I fix it?</p>