diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
index 51fb6851d..c74f1d402 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
@@ -293,7 +293,9 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_dict_1getInfo
                                      jDictBytes, jpath, NULL, check );
     if ( NULL != dict ) {
         if ( NULL != jinfo ) {
-            setInt( env, jinfo, "langCode", dict_getLangCode( dict ) );
+            XP_LangCode code = dict_getLangCode( dict );
+            XP_ASSERT( 0 < code );
+            setInt( env, jinfo, "langCode", code );
             setInt( env, jinfo, "wordCount", dict_getWordCount( dict ) );
             setString( env, jinfo, "md5Sum", dict_getMd5Sum( dict ) );
         }
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
index b4dc446dc..12400f661 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
@@ -381,6 +381,14 @@ public class DictLangCache {
     private static DictInfo getInfo( Context context, DictAndLoc dal )
     {
         DictInfo info = DBUtils.dictsGetInfo( context, dal.name );
+
+        // Tmp test that recovers from problem with new background download code
+        if ( null != info && 0 == info.langCode ) {
+            DbgUtils.logf( "getInfo: dropping info for %s b/c lang code wrong", 
+                           dal.name );
+            info = null;
+        }
+
         if ( null == info ) {
             String[] names = { dal.name };
             DictUtils.DictPairs pairs = DictUtils.openDicts( context, names );
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
index ab6a79c7d..f978c3bd5 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
@@ -584,11 +584,11 @@ public class GameUtils {
                                          String[][] missingNames, 
                                          int[] missingLang )
     {
-        String[] dictNames = dictNames( context, rowid, missingLang );
+        String[] gameDicts = dictNames( context, rowid, missingLang );
         HashSet<String> missingSet;
         DictUtils.DictAndLoc[] installed = DictUtils.dictList( context );
 
-        missingSet = new HashSet<String>( Arrays.asList( dictNames ) );
+        missingSet = new HashSet<String>( Arrays.asList( gameDicts ) );
         missingSet.remove( null );
         boolean allHere = 0 != missingSet.size(); // need some non-null!
         if ( allHere ) {
@@ -596,6 +596,8 @@ public class GameUtils {
                 missingSet.remove( dal.name );
             }
             allHere = 0 == missingSet.size();
+        } else {
+            DbgUtils.logf( "gameDictsHere: game has no dicts!" );
         }
         if ( null != missingNames ) {
             missingNames[0] = 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/CurGameInfo.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/CurGameInfo.java
index 660cf1bc0..ea68e4f58 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/CurGameInfo.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/CurGameInfo.java
@@ -143,7 +143,9 @@ public class CurGameInfo {
 
     public void setLang( int lang, String dict )
     {
-        dictName = dict;
+        if ( null != dict ) {
+            dictName = dict;
+        }
         setLang( lang );
     }