diff --git a/src/fe-text/statusbar-items.c b/src/fe-text/statusbar-items.c
index 8e4a3420..a19232d2 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/statusbar-items.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/statusbar-items.c
@@ -590,13 +590,14 @@ static void statusbar_topic(SBAR_ITEM_REC *item, int ypos)
 	query = irc_item_query(active_win->active);
 	if (channel != NULL && channel->topic != NULL) topic = channel->topic;
 	if (query != NULL && query->address != NULL) topic = query->address;
-	if (topic == NULL) return;
 
-	topic = strip_codes(topic);
-	str = g_strdup_printf("%.*s", item->size, topic);
-	set_color((1<<4)+15); addstr(str);
-	g_free(str);
-	g_free(topic);
+	if (topic != NULL) {
+		topic = strip_codes(topic);
+		str = g_strdup_printf("%.*s", item->size, topic);
+		set_color((1<<4)+15); addstr(str);
+		g_free(str);
+		g_free(topic);
+	}
 
 	screen_refresh();
 }
diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-commands.c b/src/irc/core/irc-commands.c
index fe2a6281..59d85da3 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-commands.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-commands.c
@@ -334,16 +334,18 @@ static void cmd_kick(const char *data, IRC_SERVER_REC *server, WI_IRC_REC *item)
 
 static void cmd_topic(const char *data, IRC_SERVER_REC *server, WI_IRC_REC *item)
 {
-	char *params, *channame, *topic;
+	char *params, *args, *channame, *topic;
 
 	g_return_if_fail(data != NULL);
 	if (server == NULL || !server->connected || !irc_server_check(server))
 		cmd_return_error(CMDERR_NOT_CONNECTED);
 
-	params = cmd_get_params(data, 2 | PARAM_FLAG_OPTCHAN | PARAM_FLAG_GETREST, item, &channame, &topic);
+	params = cmd_get_params(data, 3 | PARAM_FLAG_OPTCHAN |
+				PARAM_FLAG_OPTARGS | PARAM_FLAG_GETREST,
+				item, &args, &channame, &topic);
 
-	irc_send_cmdv(server, *topic == '\0' ? "TOPIC %s" : "TOPIC %s :%s",
-			 channame, topic);
+	irc_send_cmdv(server, *topic == '\0' && strstr(args, "-d") == NULL ?
+		      "TOPIC %s" : "TOPIC %s :%s", channame, topic);
 
 	g_free(params);
 }