diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
index 210753784..3a4a07f60 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ module JamRuby
     self.primary_key = 'id'
 
     before_save :stringify_photo_info , :if => :updating_photo
-    validates :biography, no_profanity: true, presence:true
+    validates :biography, no_profanity: true, presence:true, length: {maximum: 4000}
     validates :name, presence: true
     validates :country, presence: true, :unless => :skip_location_validation
     validates :state, presence: true, :unless => :skip_location_validation
diff --git a/web/spec/features/bands_spec.rb b/web/spec/features/bands_spec.rb
index 96525314e..e11a9461f 100644
--- a/web/spec/features/bands_spec.rb
+++ b/web/spec/features/bands_spec.rb
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ describe "Bands", :js => true, :type => :feature, :capybara_feature => true do
     end
 
     it "handles max-length field input" do
-      pending "update this after VRFS-1610 is resolved"
+      # pending "update this after VRFS-1610 is resolved"
       max = {
           name: 1024,
           bio: 4000,
@@ -108,10 +108,14 @@ describe "Bands", :js => true, :type => :feature, :capybara_feature => true do
       band_name = 'a'*(max[:name] + 1)
       band_bio = 'b'*(max[:bio] + 1)
       band_website = 'c'*(max[:website] + 1)
-      complete_band_setup_form(band_name, band_bio, 'band-website' => band_website)
-
-      expect(page).to have_selector('#band-profile-name', text: band_name.slice(0, max[:name]))
-      expect(page).to have_selector('#band-profile-biography', text: band_bio.slice(0, max[:bio]))
+      within('#band-setup-form') do
+        fill_in 'band-name',    with: band_name
+        fill_in 'band-biography', with: band_bio
+        all('#band-genres input[type="checkbox"]').first.trigger(:click)
+      end
+      sleep 1
+      find('#btn-band-setup-next').trigger(:click)
+      expect(page).to have_selector('#tdBandBiography .error-text li', text: "is too long (maximum is 4000 characters)")
     end
 
     it "handles special characters in text fields" do