diff --git a/src/Layer.js b/src/Layer.js
index a482ed8a..a908f23c 100644
--- a/src/Layer.js
+++ b/src/Layer.js
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@
             this.hitCanvas = new Kinetic.HitCanvas();
             // call super constructor
             Kinetic.Container.call(this, config);
-            if (!Kinetic.Util.isBrowser()) {
-                this.canvas.setSize(this.attrs.width, this.attrs.height);
-            }
         },
         _validateAdd: function(child) {
             var type = child.getType();
diff --git a/src/Stage.js b/src/Stage.js
index ec5d537c..fc76f9c6 100644
--- a/src/Stage.js
+++ b/src/Stage.js
@@ -80,7 +80,11 @@
          */
         setContainer: function(container) {
             if( typeof container === STRING) {
+                var id = container;
                 container = Kinetic.document.getElementById(container);
+                if (!container) {
+                    throw 'Can not find container in document with id ' + id;
+                }
             }
             this._setAttr(CONTAINER, container);
             return this;