diff --git a/scripts/play.pl b/scripts/play.pl
index e283709..2705a92 100644
--- a/scripts/play.pl
+++ b/scripts/play.pl
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ sub cmd_play {
 		return weechat::WEECHAT_RC_OK;
 	}
 
-	if ($path and open FH, "<", (($file !~ m"/") ? $path->match :
+	if ($path = $path->match and open FH, "<", (($file !~ m"/") ? $path :
 	 weechat::config_get_plugin('dir')."/$file")) {
 		while (<FH>) {
 			s/[\r\n]*$//;
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ sub cmd_play {
 			'play', $buffer);
 	} else {
 		weechat::print($buffer, weechat::prefix('error').
-			"Cannot open '$file': $!");
+			"Cannot open '$file'".($! ? ": $!" : ""));
 		return weechat::WEECHAT_RC_ERROR;
 	}