diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 18ca2a537..5aa497e3a 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ NEWS file for Transmission <http://transmission.m0k.org/>
    + Fix bug that could cause good peer connections to be lost
    + Tweak request queue code to improve download speeds
    + Consume less battery power on laptops
+   + Fix minor IPC parsing error 
 
 0.92 (2007/11/05)
 - All Platforms:
diff --git a/libtransmission/ipcparse.c b/libtransmission/ipcparse.c
index d849e26f9..45e70d18d 100644
--- a/libtransmission/ipcparse.c
+++ b/libtransmission/ipcparse.c
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ ipc_addstat( benc_val_t * list, int tor,
                 error = st->error;
                 if( TR_OK == error )
                 {
-                    tr_bencInitStr( item, NULL, 0, 1 );
+                    tr_bencInitStr( item, "other", -1, 1 );
                 }
                 else if( TR_ERROR_ISSET( TR_ERROR_ASSERT, error ) )
                 {
@@ -803,7 +803,7 @@ ipc_addstat( benc_val_t * list, int tor,
             case IPC_ST_ERRMSG:
                 if( '\0' == st->errorString[0] )
                 {
-                    tr_bencInitStr( item, NULL, 0, 1 );
+                    tr_bencInitStr( item, "other", -1, 1 );
                 }
                 else if( tr_bencInitStrDup( item, st->errorString ) )
                 {