diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index 8490ca33..d56459d8 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -616,6 +616,8 @@ Helmut Auer <vdr@helmutauer.de>
  --genindex
  for suggesting to disable EPG processing for a while after a CLRE command
  for suggesting to read the epg.data file in a separate thread
+ for some improvements to allowing the parameters PATH and NAME to the --dirnames
+ command line option to be left empty to use the default values if only ENC shall be set
 
 Jeremy Hall <jhall@UU.NET>
  for fixing an incomplete initialization of the filter parameters in eit.c
diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index c1cd4d67..2f955ec4 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -7741,7 +7741,8 @@ Video Disk Recorder Revision History
   "lib$$i-*.so" (previously only "libvdr-*.so") and also descends into subdirectories
   of the plugin source.
 - The parameters PATH and NAME to the --dirnames command line option may now be left
-  empty to use the default values if only ENC shall be set.
+  empty to use the default values if only ENC shall be set (thanks to Helmut Auer for
+  some improvements to this change).
 - Fixed a possible "Channel not available" if a recording starts on a system with
   bonded devices (thanks to Siegfried Bosch).
 - Fixed stopping an ongoing recording on a system with bonded devices, if a timer with
diff --git a/vdr.c b/vdr.c
index 432712ba..742d1699 100644
--- a/vdr.c
+++ b/vdr.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
  *
  * The project's page is at http://www.tvdr.de
  *
- * $Id: vdr.c 2.54 2013/03/12 09:23:33 kls Exp $
+ * $Id: vdr.c 2.55 2013/03/12 13:27:40 kls Exp $
  */
 
 #include <getopt.h>
@@ -287,13 +287,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                           return 2;
                           }
                        DirectoryPathMax = n;
+                       if (!*s)
+                          break;
+                       if (*s != ',') {
+                          fprintf(stderr, "vdr: invalid delimiter: %s\n", optarg);
+                          return 2;
+                          }
                        }
+                    s++;
                     if (!*s)
                        break;
-                    if (*s++ != ',') {
-                       fprintf(stderr, "vdr: invalid delimiter: %s\n", optarg);
-                       return 2;
-                       }
                     if (*s != ',') {
                        int n = strtol(s, &s, 10);
                        if (n <= 0 || n > NAME_MAX) { // NAME_MAX excludes the terminating 0
@@ -301,13 +304,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                           return 2;
                           }
                        DirectoryNameMax = n;
+                       if (!*s)
+                          break;
+                       if (*s != ',') {
+                          fprintf(stderr, "vdr: invalid delimiter: %s\n", optarg);
+                          return 2;
+                          }
                        }
+                    s++;
                     if (!*s)
                        break;
-                    if (*s++ != ',') {
-                       fprintf(stderr, "vdr: invalid delimiter: %s\n", optarg);
-                       return 2;
-                       }
                     int n = strtol(s, &s, 10);
                     if (n != 0 && n != 1) {
                        fprintf(stderr, "vdr: invalid directory encoding: %s\n", optarg);