@@ -69,13 +69,18 @@
 				    (debug:print 6 "item-assoc->item-list x: " x)
 				    (if (< (length x) 2)
 					(begin
 					  (debug:print 0 "ERROR: malformed items spec " (string-intersperse x " "))
 					  (list (car x)'()))
-					(let ((name (car x))
-					      (items (cadr x)))
-					  (list name (string-split items)))))
+					(let* ((name (car x))
+					       (items (cadr x))
+					       (ilist (list name (if (string? items)
+								     (string-split items)
+								     '()))))
+					  (if (null? ilist)
+					      (debug:print 0 "ERROR: No items specified for " name))
+					  ilist)))
 				  itemsdat))))
 	(let ((debuglevel 5))
 	  (debug:print 5 "item-assoc->item-list: itemsdat => itemlst ")
 	  (if (debug:debug-mode 5)
 	      (begin