diff --git a/apache2/apache2_config.c b/apache2/apache2_config.c
index 188af59c..b7ae56c0 100644
--- a/apache2/apache2_config.c
+++ b/apache2/apache2_config.c
@@ -1958,6 +1958,10 @@ static const char *cmd_rule_update_target_by_id(cmd_parms *cmd, void *_dcfg,
     /* TODO: Validate the range here, while we can still tell the user if it's invalid */
     re->param = p1;
 
+    if(dcfg->ruleset == NULL) {
+        return apr_psprintf(cmd->pool, "Updating target by ID with no ruleset in this context");
+    }
+
     return msre_ruleset_rule_update_target_matching_exception(NULL, dcfg->ruleset, re, p2, p3);
 }
 
diff --git a/apache2/re.c b/apache2/re.c
index efd90c6c..70956dbb 100644
--- a/apache2/re.c
+++ b/apache2/re.c
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ char *update_rule_target_ex(modsec_rec *msr, msre_ruleset *ruleset, msre_rule *r
                         }
 #if !defined(MSC_TEST)
                         else {
-                            ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, 0, NULL, " ModSecurity: Error parseing rule targets to replace variable");
+                            ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, 0, NULL, " ModSecurity: Error parsing rule targets to replace variable");
                         }
 #endif
                         goto end;