diff --git a/SparkleLib/Git/SparkleRepoGit.cs b/SparkleLib/Git/SparkleRepoGit.cs
index a81fad71..4e9b582c 100644
--- a/SparkleLib/Git/SparkleRepoGit.cs
+++ b/SparkleLib/Git/SparkleRepoGit.cs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ namespace SparkleLib {
                 string output = git.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd ();
                 git.WaitForExit ();
 
+                if (output.Length < 40)
+                    return null;
+
                 return output.Substring (0, 40);
             }
         }
diff --git a/SparkleShare/SparkleEventLog.cs b/SparkleShare/SparkleEventLog.cs
index 5d73998a..73901de1 100644
--- a/SparkleShare/SparkleEventLog.cs
+++ b/SparkleShare/SparkleEventLog.cs
@@ -203,6 +203,9 @@ namespace SparkleShare {
                 if (html == null)
                     html = Controller.HTML;
 
+                if (html == null)
+                    return;
+
                 html = html.Replace ("<!-- $body-font-size -->", (double) (Style.FontDescription.Size / 1024 + 3) + "px");
                 html = html.Replace ("<!-- $day-entry-header-font-size -->", (Style.FontDescription.Size / 1024 + 3) + "px");
                 html = html.Replace ("<!-- $a-color -->", "#0085cf");