diff --git a/src/strings.c b/src/strings.c
index f2176f1c43..8b44a2d2be 100644
--- a/src/strings.c
+++ b/src/strings.c
@@ -1469,7 +1469,8 @@ f_blob2str(typval_T *argvars, typval_T *rettv)
 	vimconv_T vimconv;
 	vimconv.vc_type = CONV_NONE;
 	// Use raw encoding name for iconv to preserve endianness (utf-16be vs utf-16)
-	if (convert_setup_ext(&vimconv, from_encoding_raw ? from_encoding_raw : from_encoding, FALSE, p_enc, FALSE) == FAIL)
+	// from_encoding_raw is guaranteed non-NULL whenever from_encoding != NULL
+	if (convert_setup_ext(&vimconv, from_encoding_raw, FALSE, p_enc, FALSE) == FAIL)
 	{
 	    ga_clear(&blob_ga);
 	    semsg(_(e_str_encoding_from_failed), from_encoding);
@@ -1497,8 +1498,8 @@ f_blob2str(typval_T *argvars, typval_T *rettv)
 
 	    if (from_encoding != NULL)
 	    {
-		char_u *converted = convert_string(str,
-			from_encoding_raw ? from_encoding_raw : from_encoding, p_enc);
+		// from_encoding_raw is guaranteed non-NULL whenever from_encoding != NULL
+		char_u *converted = convert_string(str, from_encoding_raw, p_enc);
 		vim_free(str);
 		str = converted;
 	    }
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index 12365dc35c..2c6404fb05 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -734,6 +734,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    5,
 /**/
     4,
 /**/