diff --git a/src/magic.c b/src/magic.c
index ce69df78f..1873bb041 100644
--- a/src/magic.c
+++ b/src/magic.c
@@ -2978,7 +2978,7 @@ spellbook * get_spellbook(const char * name)
     spellbook * result;
     void * match;
 
-    if (cb_find_prefix(&cb_spellbooks, name, strlen(name), &match, 1, 0)) {
+    if (cb_find_prefix(&cb_spellbooks, name, strlen(name), &match, 1, 0) > 0) {
         cb_get_kv(match, &result, sizeof(result));
     }
     else {
@@ -2990,8 +2990,10 @@ spellbook * get_spellbook(const char * name)
             log_error("cb_insert failed although cb_find returned nothing for spellbook=%s", name);
             assert(!"should not happen");
         }
-        cb_find_prefix(&cb_spellbooks, name, strlen(name), &match, 1, 0);
-        cb_get_kv(match, &result, sizeof(result));
+        result = 0;
+        if (cb_find_prefix(&cb_spellbooks, name, strlen(name), &match, 1, 0) > 0) {
+            cb_get_kv(match, &result, sizeof(result));
+        }
     }
     return result;
 }