diff --git a/src/WallpaperEngine/Assets/CVirtualContainer.cpp b/src/WallpaperEngine/Assets/CVirtualContainer.cpp
index c68ce32..d244e95 100644
--- a/src/WallpaperEngine/Assets/CVirtualContainer.cpp
+++ b/src/WallpaperEngine/Assets/CVirtualContainer.cpp
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ void CVirtualContainer::add (const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::s
 }
 
 void CVirtualContainer::add (const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string& contents) {
-    size_t length = contents.length () + 1;
+    // do not copy the null terminator
+    size_t length = contents.length ();
     std::shared_ptr<uint8_t[]> copy = std::shared_ptr<uint8_t[]> (new uint8_t [length]);
 
-    // copy the text AND the \0
     memcpy (copy.get(), contents.c_str (), length);
 
     // finally add to the container
diff --git a/src/WallpaperEngine/Data/Parsers/MaterialParser.cpp b/src/WallpaperEngine/Data/Parsers/MaterialParser.cpp
index ab9e5ea..9714c73 100644
--- a/src/WallpaperEngine/Data/Parsers/MaterialParser.cpp
+++ b/src/WallpaperEngine/Data/Parsers/MaterialParser.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,12 @@ std::map <int, std::string> MaterialParser::parseTextures (const JSON& it) {
 
     for (const auto& cur : it) {
         if (!cur.is_null ()) {
-            result.emplace (index, cur);
+            if (!cur.is_string ()) {
+                sLog.error ("Detected a non-string texture, most likely a special value: ", cur.dump ());
+                result.emplace (index, "");
+            } else {
+                result.emplace (index, cur);
+            }
         }
 
         index++;