diff --git a/inc/parserutils.php b/inc/parserutils.php
index 107c42eb09..20f992ba29 100644
--- a/inc/parserutils.php
+++ b/inc/parserutils.php
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ function p_wiki_xhtml($id, $rev='', $excuse=true){
 function p_wiki_xhtml_summary($id, &$title, $rev='', $excuse=true){
     $file = wikiFN($id,$rev);
     $ret  = '';
+    $ins  = null;
 
     //ensure $id is in global $ID (needed for parsing)
     global $ID;
@@ -712,7 +713,7 @@ function & p_get_renderer($mode) {
             $Renderer =& $plugin_controller->load('renderer',$rname);
         }
 
-        if(is_null($Renderer)){
+        if(!isset($Renderer) || is_null($Renderer)){
             msg("No renderer '$rname' found for mode '$mode'",-1);
             return null;
         }
diff --git a/lib/plugins/syntax.php b/lib/plugins/syntax.php
index a68946a998..8b94493e4d 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/syntax.php
+++ b/lib/plugins/syntax.php
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ function setupLocale() {
       global $conf;            // definitely don't invoke "global $lang"
       $path = DOKU_PLUGIN.$this->getPluginName().'/lang/';
 
+      $lang = array();
       // don't include once, in case several plugin components require the same language file
       @include($path.'en/lang.php');
       if ($conf['lang'] != 'en') @include($path.$conf['lang'].'/lang.php');