diff --git a/emacs/mu4e-utils.el b/emacs/mu4e-utils.el
index 8b7db29e..fdc8b79b 100644
--- a/emacs/mu4e-utils.el
+++ b/emacs/mu4e-utils.el
@@ -319,15 +319,19 @@ processing takes part in the background, unless buf is non-nil."
     (message "Retrieving mail...")
     (set-process-sentinel proc
       (lambda (proc msg)
-	(let ((status (process-status proc)) (code (process-exit-status proc)))
+	(let* ((status (process-status proc))
+		(code (process-exit-status proc))
+		;; sadly, fetchmail returns '1' when there is no mail; this is not really
+		;; an error of course, but it's hard to distinguish from a genuine error
+		(maybe-error (or (not (eq status 'exit)) (/= code 0)))) 
 	  (message nil)
-	  (if (or (not (eq status 'exit)) (/= code 0))
-	    (message "Some error occured while retrieving mail")
-	    (progn ;; update went well, now rerun the index	  
-	      (mu4e-proc-index mu4e-maildir)
-	      (let ((buf (process-buffer proc)))
-		(when (buffer-live-p buf)
-		  (kill-buffer buf))))))))))
+	  ;; there may be an error, give the user up to 5 seconds to check
+	  (when maybe-error
+	    (sit-for 5))
+	  (mu4e-proc-index mu4e-maildir)
+	  (let ((buf (process-buffer proc)))
+	    (when (buffer-live-p buf)
+	      (kill-buffer buf)))))))) 
  
 
 (defun mu4e-display-manual ()
diff --git a/emacs/mu4e-vars.el b/emacs/mu4e-vars.el
index ce8588a3..e6ef0fcb 100644
--- a/emacs/mu4e-vars.el
+++ b/emacs/mu4e-vars.el
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ PATH, you can specify the full path."
 
 (defcustom mu4e-get-mail-command nil
   "Shell command to run to retrieve new mail; e.g. 'offlineimap' or
-'fetchmail'."
+'fetchmail'. Note, when there is no mail, fetchmail will return 1
+as it error code, which mu4e interprets as an error."
   :type 'string
   :group 'mu4e
   :safe 'stringp)
@@ -358,6 +359,11 @@ flag set)."
   "Face for a header title in the headers view."
   :group 'mu4e-faces)
 
+(defface mu4e-footer-face
+  '((t :inherit font-lock-comment-face))
+  "Face for message footers (signatures)."
+  :group 'mu4e-faces)
+
 (defface mu4e-view-url-number-face
   '((t :inherit font-lock-reference-face :bold t))
   "Face for the number tags for URLs."
@@ -388,11 +394,6 @@ flag set)."
   "Face for cited message parts (level 4)."
   :group 'mu4e-faces)
 
-(defface mu4e-view-footer-face
-  '((t :inherit font-lock-comment-face))
-  "Face for message footers (signatures)."
-  :group 'mu4e-faces)
-
 (defface mu4e-hdrs-marks-face
   '((t :inherit font-lock-preprocessor-face))
   "Face for the mark in the headers list."