diff --git a/lam/lib/baseModule.inc b/lam/lib/baseModule.inc
index c9563725..ede34454 100644
--- a/lam/lib/baseModule.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/baseModule.inc
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ abstract class baseModule {
 	* 
 	* @see baseModule::get_metaData()
 	*/
-	public function check_configOptions($scopes, $options) {
+	public function check_configOptions($scopes, &$options) {
 		$messages = array();
 		$scopes[] = 'all'; // add checks that are independent of scope
 		for ($s = 0; $s < sizeof($scopes); $s++) {
diff --git a/lam/lib/modules.inc b/lam/lib/modules.inc
index 75c4abec..4acbfccf 100644
--- a/lam/lib/modules.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/modules.inc
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ function getConfigOptions($scopes) {
 * @param array $options hash array containing all options (name => array(...))
 * @return array list of error messages
 */
-function checkConfigOptions($scopes, $options) {
+function checkConfigOptions($scopes, &$options) {
 	$return = array();
 	$modules = array_keys($scopes);
 	for ($i = 0; $i < sizeof($modules); $i++) {
diff --git a/lam/lib/modules/account.inc b/lam/lib/modules/account.inc
index b579428d..597ce8b5 100644
--- a/lam/lib/modules/account.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/modules/account.inc
@@ -229,7 +229,11 @@ class account extends baseModule {
 	*/
 	function get_pdfEntries() {
 		$return = array();
-		$return['account_description'] = array('<block><key>' . _('Description') . '</key><value>' . $this->attributes['description'][0] . '</value></block>');
+		$description = '';
+		if (isset($this->attributes['description'][0])) {
+			$description = $this->attributes['description'][0];
+		}
+		$return['account_description'] = array('<block><key>' . _('Description') . '</key><value>' . $description . '</value></block>');
 		$return['account_uid'] = array('<block><key>' . _('User name') . '</key><value>' . $this->attributes['uid'][0] . '</value></block>');
 		return $return;
 	}
diff --git a/lam/lib/modules/posixAccount.inc b/lam/lib/modules/posixAccount.inc
index 40dc97b4..5fd10411 100644
--- a/lam/lib/modules/posixAccount.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/modules/posixAccount.inc
@@ -1513,7 +1513,7 @@ class posixAccount extends baseModule implements passwordService {
 	* @param array $options hash array containing the settings (array('option' => array('value')))
 	* @return array list of error messages
 	*/
-	function check_configOptions($scopes, $options) {
+	function check_configOptions($scopes, &$options) {
 		$return = array();
 		// user settings
 		if (in_array('user', $scopes)) {