diff --git a/lib/mu-msg.c b/lib/mu-msg.c
index d71a15d3..b89826fb 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg.c
+++ b/lib/mu-msg.c
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ get_str_list_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 
 	if (self->_doc && mu_msg_field_xapian_value (mfid))
 		val = mu_msg_doc_get_str_list_field (self->_doc, mfid);
-	if (!val && !self->_doc) {
+	else if (mu_msg_field_gmime (mfid)) {
 		/* if we don't have a file object yet, we need to
 		 * create it from the file on disk */
 		if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
@@ -287,10 +287,8 @@ get_str_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 		if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
 			return NULL;
 		val = mu_msg_file_get_str_field (self->_file, mfid, &do_free);
-	} else {
-		g_warning ("%s: cannot retrieve field", __FUNCTION__);
+	} else
 		val = NULL;
-	}
 
 	return do_free ? free_later_str (self, val) : val;
 }
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-draft.el b/mu4e/mu4e-draft.el
index b2933448..78ad1899 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-draft.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-draft.el
@@ -71,13 +71,21 @@ comma-separated string. Normally, this the concatenation of the
 existing References (which may be empty) and the message-id. If the
 message-id is empty, returns the old References. If both are empty,
 return nil."
-  (let ((refs (mu4e-message-field msg :references))
-	 (old-msgid (mu4e-message-field msg :message-id)))
-    (when old-msgid
-      (setq refs (append refs (list old-msgid)))
-      (mapconcat
-	(lambda (msgid) (format "<%s>" msgid))
-	refs ","))))
+  (message "REF %S"(mu4e-message-field msg :references))
+  (message "IRT %S"(mu4e-message-field msg :in-reply-to))
+  (message "MID %S"(mu4e-message-field msg :message-id))
+  (let* ( ;; these are the ones from the message being replied to / forwarded
+	  (refs (mu4e-message-field msg :references))
+	  (in-reply-to (mu4e-message-field msg :in-reply-to))
+	  (msgid (mu4e-message-field msg :message-id))
+	  ;; now, append in
+	  (refs (if (and in-reply-to (not (string= in-reply-to "")))
+		  (append refs (list in-reply-to)) refs))
+	  (refs (if (and msgid (not (string= msgid "")))
+		  (append refs (list msgid)) refs))
+	  ;; no doubles
+	  (refs (delete-duplicates refs :test #'equal)))
+    (mapconcat (lambda (id) (format "<%s>" id)) refs " ")))
 
  
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