diff --git a/src/buffer.c b/src/buffer.c
index 6ffa1cb143..3359bc2409 100644
--- a/src/buffer.c
+++ b/src/buffer.c
@@ -3324,7 +3324,7 @@ build_stl_str_hl(wp, out, outlen, fmt, use_sandbox, fillchar, maxwidth, hltab, t
     {
 	usefmt = eval_to_string_safe(fmt + 2, NULL, use_sandbox);
 	if (usefmt == NULL)
-	    usefmt = (char_u *)"";
+	    usefmt = fmt;
     }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index cfbf39d5b6..851ac3373d 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -666,6 +666,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    69,
 /**/
     68,
 /**/