diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-nicklist.c b/src/irc/core/irc-nicklist.c
index 9de3febc..ef410277 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-nicklist.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-nicklist.c
@@ -255,8 +255,9 @@ static void event_nick_in_use(IRC_SERVER_REC *server, const char *data)
 	}
 
 	/* nick already in use - need to change it .. */
-	if (strcmp(server->nick, server->connrec->nick) == 0 &&
-	    server->connrec->alternate_nick != NULL) {
+	if (g_strcasecmp(server->nick, server->connrec->nick) == 0 &&
+	    server->connrec->alternate_nick != NULL &&
+	    g_strcasecmp(server->connrec->alternate_nick, server->nick) != 0) {
 		/* first try, so try the alternative nick.. */
 		g_free(server->nick);
 		server->nick = g_strdup(server->connrec->alternate_nick);
diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-servers-setup.c b/src/irc/core/irc-servers-setup.c
index 8606a470..e661083a 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-servers-setup.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-servers-setup.c
@@ -112,19 +112,6 @@ static void init_userinfo(void)
 		nick = settings_get_str("nick");
 	}
 
-	/* alternate nick */
-        set = settings_get_str("alternate_nick");
-	if (set == NULL || *set == '\0') {
-		if (strlen(nick) < 9)
-			str = g_strconcat(nick, "_", NULL);
-		else {
-			str = g_strdup(nick);
-			str[strlen(str)-1] = '_';
-		}
-		settings_set_str("alternate_nick", str);
-		g_free(str);
-	}
-
 	/* host name */
         set = settings_get_str("hostname");
 	if (set == NULL || *set == '\0') {