diff --git a/src/rendermode-normal.c b/src/rendermode-normal.c
index 85c01ac..e27f84e 100644
--- a/src/rendermode-normal.c
+++ b/src/rendermode-normal.c
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ static void
 rendermode_normal_draw(void *data, RenderState *state, PyObject *src, PyObject *mask, PyObject *mask_light) {
     RenderModeNormal *self = (RenderModeNormal *)data;
     int randx = 0,randy = 0;
+    unsigned char data_byte;
     
     /* first, check to see if we should use biome-compatible src, mask */
     if (self->biome_data) {
@@ -176,10 +177,10 @@ rendermode_normal_draw(void *data, RenderState *state, PyObject *src, PyObject *
             randy = rand() % 6 + 1 - 3;
             state->imgx = state->imgx + randx;
             state->imgy = state->imgy + randy;
-            unsigned char data = getArrayByte3D(state->blockdata_expanded, state->x, state->y, state->z);
-            if (data == 1) {
+            data_byte = getArrayByte3D(state->blockdata_expanded, state->x, state->y, state->z);
+            if (data_byte == 1) {
                 src = mask = self->tall_grass_texture;
-            } else if (data == 2) {
+            } else if (data_byte == 2) {
                 src = mask = self->tall_fern_texture;
             }
         }
diff --git a/world.py b/world.py
index f02098c..564d193 100644
--- a/world.py
+++ b/world.py
@@ -208,23 +208,25 @@ class World(object):
 
         ## The filename of this chunk
         chunkFile = self.get_region_path(chunkX, chunkY)
-
-        data=nbt.load_from_region(chunkFile, chunkX, chunkY)[1]
-        level = data['Level']
-        blockArray = numpy.frombuffer(level['Blocks'], dtype=numpy.uint8).reshape((16,16,128))
-
-        ## The block for spawn *within* the chunk
-        inChunkX = spawnX - (chunkX*16)
-        inChunkZ = spawnZ - (chunkY*16)
-
-        ## find the first air block
-        while (blockArray[inChunkX, inChunkZ, spawnY] != 0):
-            spawnY += 1
-            if spawnY == 128:
-                break
+        
+        if chunkFile is not None:
+            data = nbt.load_from_region(chunkFile, chunkX, chunkY)[1]
+            if data is not None:
+                level = data['Level']
+                blockArray = numpy.frombuffer(level['Blocks'], dtype=numpy.uint8).reshape((16,16,128))
+                
+                ## The block for spawn *within* the chunk
+                inChunkX = spawnX - (chunkX*16)
+                inChunkZ = spawnZ - (chunkY*16)
+                
+                ## find the first air block
+                while (blockArray[inChunkX, inChunkZ, spawnY] != 0):
+                    spawnY += 1
+                    if spawnY == 128:
+                        break
 
         self.POI.append( dict(x=spawnX, y=spawnY, z=spawnZ, 
-                msg="Spawn", type="spawn", chunk=(inChunkX,inChunkZ)))
+                msg="Spawn", type="spawn", chunk=(chunkX, chunkY)))
         self.spawn = (spawnX, spawnY, spawnZ)
 
     def go(self, procs):