diff --git a/src/app/qgsvectorlayerproperties.cpp b/src/app/qgsvectorlayerproperties.cpp
index f3d1f7a629c..7d2c1d6479a 100644
--- a/src/app/qgsvectorlayerproperties.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgsvectorlayerproperties.cpp
@@ -101,23 +101,9 @@ QgsVectorLayerProperties::QgsVectorLayerProperties(
   actionDialog = new QgsAttributeActionDialog( layer->actions(), fields, actionOptionsFrame );
   actionLayout->addWidget( actionDialog );
 
-  tblAttributes->setColumnCount( 8 );
-  tblAttributes->setRowCount( fields.size() );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 0, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "id" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 1, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "name" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 2, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "type" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 3, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "length" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 4, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "precision" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 5, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "comment" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 6, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "edit widget" ) ) );
-  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 7, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "values" ) ) );
-
-  tblAttributes->setSelectionBehavior( QAbstractItemView::SelectRows );
-  tblAttributes->setSelectionMode( QAbstractItemView::MultiSelection );
-
-  loadRows();
 
   reset();
+
   if ( layer->dataProvider() )//enable spatial index button group if supported by provider
   {
     int capabilities = layer->dataProvider()->capabilities();
@@ -141,6 +127,22 @@ void QgsVectorLayerProperties::loadRows()
 {
   const QgsFieldMap &fields = layer->pendingFields();
 
+  tblAttributes->clear();
+
+  tblAttributes->setColumnCount( 8 );
+  tblAttributes->setRowCount( fields.size() );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 0, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "id" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 1, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "name" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 2, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "type" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 3, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "length" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 4, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "precision" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 5, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "comment" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 6, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "edit widget" ) ) );
+  tblAttributes->setHorizontalHeaderItem( 7, new QTableWidgetItem( tr( "values" ) ) );
+
+  tblAttributes->setSelectionBehavior( QAbstractItemView::SelectRows );
+  tblAttributes->setSelectionMode( QAbstractItemView::MultiSelection );
+
   int row = 0;
   for ( QgsFieldMap::const_iterator it = fields.begin(); it != fields.end(); it++, row++ )
     setRow( row, it.key(), it.value() );
@@ -450,6 +452,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayerProperties::reset( void )
   //update the transparency percentage label
   sliderTransparency_valueChanged( 255 - layer->getTransparency() );
 
+  loadRows();
 } // reset()
 
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgslabel.cpp b/src/core/qgslabel.cpp
index 810347fc190..b3d8ede3486 100644
--- a/src/core/qgslabel.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgslabel.cpp
@@ -712,7 +712,9 @@ bool QgsLabel::readLabelField( QDomElement &el, int attr, QString prefix = "fiel
   }
   else if ( el.hasAttribute( prefix ) )
   {
-    mLabelFieldIdx[attr] = el.attribute( prefix ).toInt();
+    QString value = el.attribute( prefix );
+    mLabelFieldIdx[attr] = value.isEmpty() ? -1 : value.toInt();
+    return true;
   }
 
   mLabelFieldIdx[attr] = -1;
@@ -768,7 +770,7 @@ void QgsLabel::readXML( const QDomNode& node )
   else
   {
     el = scratchNode.toElement();
-    if ( !el.hasAttribute( "unitfieldname" ) )
+    if ( !el.hasAttribute( "unitfield" ) && !el.hasAttribute( "unitfieldname" ) )
     {
       type = QgsLabelAttributes::unitsCode( el.attribute( "units", "" ) );
       mLabelAttributes->setSize( el.attribute( "value", "0.0" ).toDouble(), type );