diff --git a/src/mu-config.c b/src/mu-config.c
index caaf8f1e..bceab6bf 100644
--- a/src/mu-config.c
+++ b/src/mu-config.c
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ show_usage (gboolean noerror)
 static void
 show_version (void)
 {
-	g_print ("mu (mail indexer/searcher) " VERSION "\n"
+	g_print ("mu (mail indexer/searcher) version " VERSION "\n"
 		 "Copyright (C) 2008-2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema (GPLv3+)\n");
 }
 
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-doc.cc b/src/mu-msg-doc.cc
index b7fdde99..8bdde617 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-doc.cc
+++ b/src/mu-msg-doc.cc
@@ -105,22 +105,22 @@ mu_msg_doc_get_num_field (MuMsgDoc *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 	g_return_val_if_fail (self, -1);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (mu_msg_field_id_is_valid(mfid), -1);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (mu_msg_field_is_numeric(mfid), -1);
-
+	
 	/* date is a special case, because we store dates as
 	 * strings */	
 	try {
 		const std::string s (self->doc().get_value(mfid));
 		if (s.empty())
-			return -1;
+			return 0;
 		else if (mfid == MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_DATE) {
 			time_t t;
 			t = mu_date_str_to_time_t (s.c_str(), FALSE/*utc*/);
 			return static_cast<gint64>(t);
-		} else
+		} else {
 			return static_cast<gint64>(Xapian::sortable_unserialise(s));
-
-	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK_RETURN(-1);
-	
+		}
+		
+	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK_RETURN(-1);	
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-file.h b/src/mu-msg-file.h
index a6f992e5..0a800ce5 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-file.h
+++ b/src/mu-msg-file.h
@@ -106,9 +106,9 @@ GSList* mu_msg_file_get_str_list_field (MuMsgFile *self,
  * @param self a valid MuMsgFile
  * @param msfid the message field id to get (must be string-based one)
  * 
- * @return the numeric value, or -1
+ * @return the numeric value, or -1 in case of error
  */
-gint64 mu_msg_file_get_num_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId msfid);
+gint64 mu_msg_file_get_num_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid);
 
 
 #endif /*__MU_MSG_FILE_H__*/