diff --git a/renderdoc/common/common.cpp b/renderdoc/common/common.cpp
index 120e6edd2..3536c15d5 100644
--- a/renderdoc/common/common.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/common/common.cpp
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ void rdclog_filename(const char *filename)
   {
     logfileHandle = FileIO::logfile_open(*logfile);
 
-    if(logfileHandle && previous.c_str())
+    if(logfileHandle && !previous.empty())
     {
       rdcstr previousContents;
       FileIO::ReadAll(previous, previousContents);
diff --git a/renderdoc/core/core.cpp b/renderdoc/core/core.cpp
index fc0ad99c5..8740c8f8e 100644
--- a/renderdoc/core/core.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/core/core.cpp
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ void RenderDoc::Initialise()
     FileIO::GetDefaultFiles(base, capture_filename, m_LoggingFilename, m_Target);
 
     if(m_CaptureFileTemplate.empty())
-      SetCaptureFileTemplate(capture_filename.c_str());
+      SetCaptureFileTemplate(capture_filename);
 
     RDCLOGFILE(m_LoggingFilename.c_str());
   }