diff --git a/lib/mu-msg-file.c b/lib/mu-msg-file.c
index b0168d82..d4065470 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg-file.c
+++ b/lib/mu-msg-file.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ get_mailing_list (MuMsgFile *self)
 	if (b && e)
 		return g_strndup (b + 1, e - b - 1);
 	else
-		return NULL;
+		return g_strdup (hdr);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
index 34a60613..6758ce46 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ I.e. a message with the draft flag set."
        ( :name "List"
 	 :shortname "List"
 	 :help "Mailing list for this message"
-	 :sortable t))
+	 :sortable nil))
      (:path .
        ( :name "Path"
 	 :shortname "Path"