diff --git a/src/do_name.c b/src/do_name.c
index ed0eea5a1..f1d8d5bb9 100644
--- a/src/do_name.c
+++ b/src/do_name.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* NetHack 3.6	do_name.c	$NHDT-Date: 1574419578 2019/11/22 10:46:18 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.6 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.152 $ */
+/* NetHack 3.6	do_name.c	$NHDT-Date: 1582364431 2020/02/22 09:40:31 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.174 $ */
 /* Copyright (c) Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1985. */
 /*-Copyright (c) Pasi Kallinen, 2018. */
 /* NetHack may be freely redistributed.  See license for details. */
@@ -2023,15 +2023,16 @@ char *buf, *code;
     static const char bogon_codes[] = "-_+|="; /* see dat/bonusmon.txt */
     char *mname = buf;
 
+    if (code)
+        *code = '\0';
+    /* might fail (return empty buf[]) if the file isn't available */
     get_rnd_text(BOGUSMONFILE, buf, rn2_on_display_rng);
-    /* strip prefix if present */
-    if (index(bogon_codes, *mname)) {
+    if (!*mname) {
+        Strcpy(buf, "bogon");
+    } else if (index(bogon_codes, *mname)) { /* strip prefix if present */
         if (code)
             *code = *mname;
         ++mname;
-    } else {
-        if (code)
-            *code = '\0';
     }
     return mname;
 }
diff --git a/src/rumors.c b/src/rumors.c
index 870f19342..7e5df7062 100644
--- a/src/rumors.c
+++ b/src/rumors.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* NetHack 3.6	rumors.c	$NHDT-Date: 1545132266 2018/12/18 11:24:26 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.6.2-beta01 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.34 $ */
+/* NetHack 3.6	rumors.c	$NHDT-Date: 1582364450 2020/02/22 09:40:50 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.51 $ */
 /* Copyright (c) Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1985. */
 /*-Copyright (c) Robert Patrick Rankin, 2012. */
 /* NetHack may be freely redistributed.  See license for details. */
@@ -291,23 +291,26 @@ int FDECL((*rng), (int));
     dlb *fh;
 
     buf[0] = '\0';
-
     fh = dlb_fopen(fname, "r");
-
     if (fh) {
-        /* TODO: cache sizetxt, starttxt, endtxt. maybe cache file contents?
-         */
-        long sizetxt = 0, starttxt = 0, endtxt = 0, tidbit = 0;
+        /* TODO: cache sizetxt, starttxt, endtxt. maybe cache file contents? */
+        long sizetxt = 0L, starttxt = 0L, endtxt = 0L, tidbit = 0L;
         char *endp, line[BUFSZ], xbuf[BUFSZ];
-        (void) dlb_fgets(line, sizeof line,
-                         fh); /* skip "don't edit" comment */
+
+        /* skip "don't edit" comment */
+        (void) dlb_fgets(line, sizeof line, fh);
 
         (void) dlb_fseek(fh, 0L, SEEK_CUR);
         starttxt = dlb_ftell(fh);
         (void) dlb_fseek(fh, 0L, SEEK_END);
         endtxt = dlb_ftell(fh);
         sizetxt = endtxt - starttxt;
-        tidbit = rng(sizetxt);
+        /* might be zero (only if file is empty); should complain in that
+           case but if could happen over and over, also the suggestion
+           that save and restore might fix the problem wouldn't be useful */
+        if (sizetxt < 1L)
+            return buf;
+        tidbit = (*rng)(sizetxt);
 
         (void) dlb_fseek(fh, starttxt + tidbit, SEEK_SET);
         (void) dlb_fgets(line, sizeof line, fh);
@@ -400,7 +403,8 @@ int fd, mode;
     if (perform_bwrite(mode)) {
         bwrite(fd, (genericptr_t) &oracle_cnt, sizeof oracle_cnt);
         if (oracle_cnt)
-            bwrite(fd, (genericptr_t) oracle_loc, oracle_cnt * sizeof(long));
+            bwrite(fd, (genericptr_t) oracle_loc, 
+                    oracle_cnt * sizeof(long));
     }
     if (release_data(mode)) {
         if (oracle_cnt) {