diff --git a/emacs/mu4e-compose.el b/emacs/mu4e-compose.el
index bbc1d2c4..f4e7f0c1 100644
--- a/emacs/mu4e-compose.el
+++ b/emacs/mu4e-compose.el
@@ -265,12 +265,12 @@ are more than 1 (based on ORIGMSG)."
 	     (length (mu4e~compose-create-cc-lst origmsg t))))
 	  (response
 	    (if (= recipnum 1)
-	      ?a ;; with one recipient, we can reply to 'all'....
+	      'all ;; with one recipient, we can reply to 'all'....
 	      (mu4e-read-option
 		"Reply to "
-		`( (,(format "all %d recipients" recipnum) . 'all)
-		   ("sender only" . 'sender-only))))))
-    (= response 'all)))
+		`( (,(format "all %d recipients" recipnum) . all)
+		   ("sender only" . sender-only))))))
+    (eq response 'all)))
 
 (defun mu4e~compose-message-filename-construct (&optional flagstr)
   "Construct a randomized name for a message file with flags FLAGSTR; it looks
diff --git a/emacs/mu4e-headers.el b/emacs/mu4e-headers.el
index b5220893..91a854bc 100644
--- a/emacs/mu4e-headers.el
+++ b/emacs/mu4e-headers.el
@@ -938,7 +938,7 @@ rerun the last search with the new parameters."
 	      '(("ascending" . nil) ("descending" . t)))))
     (setq
       mu4e-headers-sortfield sortfield
-      mu4e-headers-sort-revert revert)
+      mu4e-headers-sort-revert revert) ;; "descending" means "revert"
     (when rerun
       (mu4e-headers-rerun-search))))