diff --git a/src/report.c b/src/report.c
index 7e47d609b..3976bb05b 100644
--- a/src/report.c
+++ b/src/report.c
@@ -723,8 +723,9 @@ rp_messages(struct stream *out, message_list * msgs, faction * viewer, int inden
         int k = 0;
         struct mlist *m = msgs->begin;
         while (m) {
-            /* messagetype * mt = m->type; */
-            if (!categorized || strcmp(m->msg->type->section, section) == 0) {
+            /* categorized messages need a section: */
+            assert(!categorized || (m->msg->type->section != NULL));
+            if (!categorized || m->msg->type->section == section) {
                 char lbuf[8192];
 
                 if (!k && categorized) {
@@ -2312,11 +2313,11 @@ report_plaintext(const char *filename, report_context * ctx,
             message_list *mlist = r_getmessages(r, f);
             if (mlist) {
                 struct mlist **split = merge_messages(mlist, r->msgs);
-                rp_messages(out, mlist, f, 0, true);
+                rp_messages(out, mlist, f, 0, false);
                 split_messages(mlist, split);
             }
             else {
-                rp_messages(out, r->msgs, f, 0, true);
+                rp_messages(out, r->msgs, f, 0, false);
             }
         }