diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 2e893441..1d5a8935 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ Changes
 	- Fix bug where if text on the magicline was replaced (which can
 	  be done via a regexp replace of "^$" with something other than
 	  ""), a new magicline wouldn't be created. (DLR)
+	- Remove check for answer being a blank string, presumed to be
+	  a PICO_MODE holdover, but it stops us from doing a blank 
+	  spelling replacement.
   do_replace()
 	- For greater Pico compatibility, when an attempt to replace a
 	  string results in 0 replacements due to the string's not being
diff --git a/search.c b/search.c
index d0027644..e5e6449c 100644
--- a/search.c
+++ b/search.c
@@ -571,9 +571,6 @@ int do_replace_loop(const char *prevanswer, const filestruct *begin,
         }
     }
 
-    if (answer[0] == '\0')
-	answer = mallocstrcpy(answer, last_replace);
-
     last_replace = mallocstrcpy(last_replace, answer);
     while (1) {
 	/* Sweet optimization by Rocco here */