diff --git a/themes/engines/phptemplate/phptemplate.engine b/themes/engines/phptemplate/phptemplate.engine
index 366420fdd03..b58d9dcb999 100644
--- a/themes/engines/phptemplate/phptemplate.engine
+++ b/themes/engines/phptemplate/phptemplate.engine
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ function phptemplate_regions() {
  * @return
  *  The HTML generated by the template system.
  */
-function _phptemplate_callback($hook, $variables = array(), $file = null) {
+function _phptemplate_callback($hook, $variables = array(), $file = NULL) {
 
   $variables = array_merge($variables, _phptemplate_default_variables($hook, $variables));
 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ function phptemplate_page($content) {
   if ($sidebar_right != '') {
     $layout = ($layout == 'left') ? 'both' : 'right';
   }
-  $sidebar_indicator = null;
+  $sidebar_indicator = NULL;
 
   // Construct page title
   if (drupal_get_title()) {
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ function phptemplate_box($title, $content, $region = 'main') {
  * @param $file
  *   A suggested template file to use.
  */
-function _phptemplate_default($hook, $variables, $file = null) {
+function _phptemplate_default($hook, $variables, $file = NULL) {
   if ($file && file_exists(path_to_theme() . "/$file.tpl.php")) {
     $file = path_to_theme() . "/$file.tpl.php";
   }
@@ -324,13 +324,14 @@ function _phptemplate_default($hook, $variables, $file = null) {
       }
       else {
         $variables['hook'] = $hook;
-        watchdog('error', 'PHPTemplate was instructed to override the  ' . $hook . ' theme function, but no valid template file was found.');
+        watchdog('error', t('PHPTemplate was instructed to override the %name theme function, but no valid template file was found.', array('%name' => theme('placeholder', $hook))));
         $file = 'themes/engines/phptemplate/default.tpl.php';
       }
     }
   }
 
   if ($file) {
+    unset($variables['file']);     // Make sure we don't override $file
     extract($variables);           // Extract the vars to local namespace
     ob_start();                    // Start output buffering
     include($file);                // Include the file