diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-show.el b/emacs/notmuch-show.el
index 18b46715..e8c83433 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch-show.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch-show.el
@@ -1734,8 +1734,8 @@ TAG-CHANGES is a list of tag operations for `notmuch-tag'."
 
 See `notmuch-tag' for information on the format of TAG-CHANGES."
   (interactive)
-  (setq tag-changes (notmuch-tag (notmuch-show-get-message-id) tag-changes))
-  (let* ((current-tags (notmuch-show-get-tags))
+  (let* ((tag-changes (notmuch-tag (notmuch-show-get-message-id) tag-changes))
+	 (current-tags (notmuch-show-get-tags))
 	 (new-tags (notmuch-update-tags current-tags tag-changes)))
     (unless (equal current-tags new-tags)
       (notmuch-show-set-tags new-tags))))
diff --git a/emacs/notmuch.el b/emacs/notmuch.el
index af107e28..edb5a1c7 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch.el
@@ -904,9 +904,8 @@ Other optional parameters are used as follows:
   target-line: The line number to move to if the target thread does not
                appear in the search results."
   (interactive)
-  (if (null query)
-      (setq query (notmuch-read-query "Notmuch search: ")))
-  (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create (notmuch-search-buffer-title query))))
+  (let* ((query (or query (notmuch-read-query "Notmuch search: ")))
+	 (buffer (get-buffer-create (notmuch-search-buffer-title query))))
     (switch-to-buffer buffer)
     (notmuch-search-mode)
     ;; Don't track undo information for this buffer