diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/bookwindow.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/bookwindow.cpp
index 4c80e3181f..b4e9f257f8 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/bookwindow.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/bookwindow.cpp
@@ -224,7 +224,10 @@ namespace MWGui
 
     ControllerButtons* BookWindow::getControllerButtons()
     {
-        mControllerButtons.mA = mTakeButton->getVisible() ? "#{Interface:Take}" : {};
+        if (mTakeButton->getVisible())
+            mControllerButtons.mA = "#{Interface:Take}";
+        else
+            mControllerButtons.mA.clear();
         return &mControllerButtons;
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/container.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/container.cpp
index fe811b47a9..b0e86f94d0 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/container.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/container.cpp
@@ -355,7 +355,10 @@ namespace MWGui
 
     ControllerButtons* ContainerWindow::getControllerButtons()
     {
-        mControllerButtons.mR1 = mDisposeCorpseButton->getVisible() ? "#{Interface:DisposeOfCorpse}" : {};
+        if (mDisposeCorpseButton->getVisible())
+            mControllerButtons.mR1 = "#{Interface:DisposeOfCorpse}";
+        else
+            mControllerButtons.mR1.clear();
         return &mControllerButtons;
     }