diff --git a/pyfpdb/HUD_config.xml.example b/pyfpdb/HUD_config.xml.example
index e25a1ab7..016b0a4d 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/HUD_config.xml.example
+++ b/pyfpdb/HUD_config.xml.example
@@ -252,49 +252,46 @@ Left-Drag to Move"
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diff --git a/pyfpdb/HandHistoryConverter.py b/pyfpdb/HandHistoryConverter.py
index a6f19aaa..37ba831f 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/HandHistoryConverter.py
+++ b/pyfpdb/HandHistoryConverter.py
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ or None if we fail to get the info """
pass
else:
print "unable to read file with any codec in list!", self.in_path
- self.obs = None
+ self.obs = ""
elif self.filetype == "xml":
doc = xml.dom.minidom.parse(filename)
self.doc = doc