diff --git a/src/core/os.c b/src/core/os.c
index 6f68fafe..837375cb 100644
--- a/src/core/os.c
+++ b/src/core/os.c
@@ -159,6 +159,8 @@ static Janet os_arch(int32_t argc, Janet *argv) {
     return janet_ckeywordv("arm");
 #elif (defined(__sparc__))
     return janet_ckeywordv("sparc");
+#elif (defined(__ppc__))
+    return janet_ckeywordv("ppc");
 #else
     return janet_ckeywordv("unknown");
 #endif
diff --git a/src/core/pp.c b/src/core/pp.c
index 59acba1b..3a855536 100644
--- a/src/core/pp.c
+++ b/src/core/pp.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ static void janet_escape_buffer_b(JanetBuffer *buffer, JanetBuffer *bx) {
 void janet_to_string_b(JanetBuffer *buffer, Janet x) {
     switch (janet_type(x)) {
         case JANET_NIL:
-            janet_buffer_push_cstring(buffer, "nil");
+            janet_buffer_push_cstring(buffer, "");
             break;
         case JANET_BOOLEAN:
             janet_buffer_push_cstring(buffer,
@@ -277,6 +277,9 @@ void janet_description_b(JanetBuffer *buffer, Janet x) {
     switch (janet_type(x)) {
         default:
             break;
+        case JANET_NIL:
+            janet_buffer_push_cstring(buffer, "nil");
+            return;
         case JANET_KEYWORD:
             janet_buffer_push_u8(buffer, ':');
             break;