diff --git a/calibre-plugin/ffdl_plugin.py b/calibre-plugin/ffdl_plugin.py
index 1a15d82..338f901 100644
--- a/calibre-plugin/ffdl_plugin.py
+++ b/calibre-plugin/ffdl_plugin.py
@@ -1469,7 +1469,8 @@ class FanFictionDownLoaderPlugin(InterfaceAction):
                 db.set_custom(book_id, book['all_metadata'][meta], label, commit=False)
             elif coldef['datatype'] in ('int','float'):
                 num = unicode(book['all_metadata'][meta]).replace(",","")
-                db.set_custom(book_id, num, label=label, commit=False)
+                if num != '':
+                    db.set_custom(book_id, num, label=label, commit=False)
             elif coldef['datatype'] == 'bool' and meta.startswith('status-'):
                 if meta == 'status-C':
                     val = book['all_metadata']['status'] == 'Completed'
diff --git a/fanficdownloader/htmlcleanup.py b/fanficdownloader/htmlcleanup.py
index 4dfb306..fc56ca8 100644
--- a/fanficdownloader/htmlcleanup.py
+++ b/fanficdownloader/htmlcleanup.py
@@ -69,8 +69,9 @@ def removeEntities(text):
     
     if text is None:
         return ""
-    if not (isinstance(text,str) or isinstance(text,unicode)):
-        return str(text)
+    
+    if not isinstance(text,basestring):
+        return unicode(text)
     
     try:
         t = text.decode('utf-8')