diff --git a/configmodel.c b/configmodel.c
index 079da53..549675b 100644
--- a/configmodel.c
+++ b/configmodel.c
@@ -450,18 +450,31 @@ CONST_STRPTR SectionCanonicalName(SECTIONPTR abstractSection)
 	{
 		ULONG primaryLength = 0;
 		ULONG secondaryLength = 0;
+		ULONG totalLength = 0;
 		if(section->primary != NULL)
 		{
 			primaryLength = strlen(section->primary);
 		}
-		if(section->secondary != NULL)
+		if(section->secondary != NULL && strlen(section->secondary)>0)
 		{
 			secondaryLength = strlen(section->secondary);
 		}
-		result = AllocVec(primaryLength+1+secondaryLength+1, MEMF_CLEAR);
+		totalLength += primaryLength;
+		if( secondaryLength > 0 )
+		{
+			totalLength += 1; // '.'
+			totalLength += secondaryLength;
+		}
+
+		result = AllocVec(totalLength+1, MEMF_CLEAR);
+
 		CopyMem(section->primary, result, primaryLength);
-		result[primaryLength] = '.';
-		CopyMem(section->secondary, result+primaryLength+1, secondaryLength);		
+		if( secondaryLength > 0 )
+		{
+			result[primaryLength] = '.';
+			CopyMem(section->secondary, result+primaryLength+1, secondaryLength);		
+		}
+		result[totalLength] = '\0';
 	}
 	return result;
 }
@@ -544,7 +557,7 @@ CONST_STRPTR VariableSerialize(VARIABLEPTR abstractVariable)
 	struct Variable* variable = (struct Variable*)abstractVariable;
 	if( variable != NULL && variable->normalizedKey != NULL && variable->value.stringValue != NULL )
 	{
-		ULONG size = strlen(variable->normalizedKey) + 3 + strlen(variable->value.stringValue) + 1;
+		ULONG size = 1 + strlen(variable->normalizedKey) + 3 + strlen(variable->value.stringValue) + 1 + 1;
 		result = AllocVec(size, MEMF_CLEAR);
 		sprintf(result, "\t%s = %s\n", variable->normalizedKey, variable->value.stringValue);
 	}
diff --git a/sectionstore.c b/sectionstore.c
index 4113af7..d20e4b5 100644
--- a/sectionstore.c
+++ b/sectionstore.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "containers/stringarray.h"
 #include "containers/linearray.h"
 #include "cregex/pattern.h"
+#include "configfile.h"
 
 #include <proto/exec.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ SECTIONPTR SectionStoreFindOrCreateSection(SECTIONSTOREPTR sectionStore, CONST_S
 {
 	// now get the section
 	StringArray canonicalParts = ConfigFileSplitKeyForVar(compoundKey);
-	SECTIONPTR section = section = SectionStoreGetSection(sectionStore, StringArrayValues(canonicalParts)[0]);
+	SECTIONPTR section = SectionStoreGetSection(sectionStore, StringArrayValues(canonicalParts)[0]);
 	if( section == NULL )
 	{
 		StringArray separateParts = ConfigFileSplitKeyCompletely(compoundKey);