diff --git a/src/Cockpit/hud.cxx b/src/Cockpit/hud.cxx
index e6903caab..f9b9f3a97 100644
--- a/src/Cockpit/hud.cxx
+++ b/src/Cockpit/hud.cxx
@@ -261,9 +261,11 @@ int fgHUDInit( fgAIRCRAFT * /* current_aircraft */ )
     }
 
     FGFontCache *fc = globals->get_fontcache();
-    HUD_Font = fc->getTexFont(fgGetString("/sim/hud/font/name", "Helvetica.txf"));
+    const char* fileName = fgGetString("/sim/hud/font/name", "Helvetica.txf");
+    HUD_Font = fc->getTexFont(fileName);
     if (!HUD_Font)
-        throw sg_throwable(string("/sim/hud/font/name is not a texture font"));
+        throw sg_io_exception("/sim/hud/font/name is not a texture font",
+                              sg_location(fileName));
 
     HUD_TextSize = fgGetFloat("/sim/hud/font/size", 10);
 
diff --git a/src/FDM/YASim/proptest.cpp b/src/FDM/YASim/proptest.cpp
index 6db6183f7..c10d59211 100644
--- a/src/FDM/YASim/proptest.cpp
+++ b/src/FDM/YASim/proptest.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         readXML(argv[1], fdm);
     } catch (const sg_exception &e) {
         printf("XML parse error: %s (%s)\n",
-               e.getFormattedMessage().c_str(), e.getOrigin().c_str());
+               e.getFormattedMessage().c_str(), e.getOrigin());
     }
 
     Airplane* airplane = fdm.getAirplane();
diff --git a/src/FDM/YASim/yasim-test.cpp b/src/FDM/YASim/yasim-test.cpp
index 2fa642526..095887341 100644
--- a/src/FDM/YASim/yasim-test.cpp
+++ b/src/FDM/YASim/yasim-test.cpp
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         readXML(file, *fdm);
     } catch (const sg_exception &e) {
         printf("XML parse error: %s (%s)\n",
-               e.getFormattedMessage().c_str(), e.getOrigin().c_str());
+               e.getFormattedMessage().c_str(), e.getOrigin());
     }
 
     // ... and run
diff --git a/src/GUI/gui_funcs.cxx b/src/GUI/gui_funcs.cxx
index 1dc5db7a4..1d2ccfba8 100644
--- a/src/GUI/gui_funcs.cxx
+++ b/src/GUI/gui_funcs.cxx
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ void guiErrorMessage (const char *txt, const sg_throwable &throwable)
     string msg = txt;
     msg += '\n';
     msg += throwable.getFormattedMessage();
-    if (!throwable.getOrigin().empty()) {
+    if (!std::strlen(throwable.getOrigin()) != 0) {
         msg += "\n (reported by ";
         msg += throwable.getOrigin();
         msg += ')';
diff --git a/src/Input/input.cxx b/src/Input/input.cxx
index 695a42610..d281c3593 100644
--- a/src/Input/input.cxx
+++ b/src/Input/input.cxx
@@ -512,8 +512,8 @@ FGInput::_init_joystick ()
             << "\"\nUsing default: \"" << source << '"');
 
       } else {
-        throw sg_throwable(string("No joystick configuration file with "
-            "<name>default</name> entry found!"));
+        throw sg_exception(string("No joystick configuration file with <name>")
+                           + name + "</name> entry found!");
       }
 
       js_node = js_nodes->getChild("js", i, true);
diff --git a/src/Instrumentation/HUD/HUD.cxx b/src/Instrumentation/HUD/HUD.cxx
index d199c3b30..65543dea3 100644
--- a/src/Instrumentation/HUD/HUD.cxx
+++ b/src/Instrumentation/HUD/HUD.cxx
@@ -127,11 +127,15 @@ HUD::~HUD()
 
 void HUD::init()
 {
+    const char* fontName = 0;
     _font_cache = globals->get_fontcache();
+    if (!_font) {
+        fontName = fgGetString("/sim/hud/font/name", "Helvetica.txf");
+        _font = _font_cache->getTexFont(fontName);
+    }
     if (!_font)
-        _font = _font_cache->getTexFont(fgGetString("/sim/hud/font/name", "Helvetica.txf"));
-    if (!_font)
-        throw sg_throwable(string("/sim/hud/font/name is not a texture font"));
+        throw sg_io_exception("/sim/hud/font/name is not a texture font",
+                              sg_location(fontName));
 
     _font_size = fgGetFloat("/sim/hud/font/size", 8);
     _font_renderer->setFont(_font);
diff --git a/src/Instrumentation/instrument_mgr.cxx b/src/Instrumentation/instrument_mgr.cxx
index da82cce95..21b2a47e7 100644
--- a/src/Instrumentation/instrument_mgr.cxx
+++ b/src/Instrumentation/instrument_mgr.cxx
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ FGInstrumentMgr::FGInstrumentMgr ()
             readProperties( config.str(), config_props );
 
             if ( !build() ) {
-                throw sg_throwable(string(
-                        "Detected an internal inconsistency in the instrumentation\n"
-                        "system specification file.  See earlier errors for details."));
+                throw sg_error(
+                    "Detected an internal inconsistency in the instrumentation\n"
+                    "system specification file.  See earlier errors for details.");
             }
         } catch (const sg_exception&) {
             SG_LOG( SG_ALL, SG_ALERT, "Failed to load instrumentation system model: "
diff --git a/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx b/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
index aa9c314a2..dc0723f37 100644
--- a/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
+++ b/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ int main ( int argc, char **argv ) {
                             // logging, since logging may be
                             // disabled.
         cerr << "Fatal error: " << t.getFormattedMessage() << endl;
-        if (!t.getOrigin().empty())
+        if (std::strlen(t.getOrigin()) != 0)
             cerr << " (received from " << t.getOrigin() << ')' << endl;
 
     } catch (const string &s) {
diff --git a/src/Main/fg_init.cxx b/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
index b602efdf3..7079f3d20 100644
--- a/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
+++ b/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
@@ -1279,7 +1279,7 @@ void fgInitFDM() {
     } else if ( model == "yasim" ) {
         cur_fdm_state = new YASim( dt );
     } else {
-        throw sg_throwable(string("Unrecognized flight model '") + model
+        throw sg_exception(string("Unrecognized flight model '") + model
                + "', cannot init flight dynamics model.");
     }
 }