Evaluating in the scratch buffer: (setq ispell-program-name "hunspell") "hunspell" (require 'ispell) ispell (ispell-find-hunspell-dictionaries) Causes this error: Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument stringp nil) string-match("," nil 0) split-string(nil "," t) (let ((dict-list (split-string dict-key "," t)) (first-p t) (dict-arg "") otherchars-list) (let ((--dolist-tail-- dict-list)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((dict-key (car --dolist-tail--))) (let ((affix-file (car (cdr (assoc dict-key ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist))))) (if affix-file nil (error "ispell-phaf: No matching entry for %s in `ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist'.\n" dict-key)) (if (and first-p (not (file-exists-p affix-file))) (error "ispell-phaf: File \"%s\" not found.\n" affix-file)) (and first-p (setq first-p nil)) (let ((dict-name (file-name-sans-extension (file-name-nondirectory affix-file))) otherchars-string) (let ((temp-buffer (generate-new-buffer " *temp*"))) (save-current-buffer (set-buffer temp-buffer) (unwind-protect (progn (insert-file-contents affix-file) (setq otherchars-string (save-excursion (goto-char (point-min)) (if (search-forward-regexp "^WORDCHARS +" nil t) (buffer-substring (point) (progn (end-of-line) (point)))))) (if otherchars-string (let* ((otherchars-string (substring otherchars-string 0 (string-match " +" otherchars-string))) (chars-list (append otherchars-string nil))) (setq chars-list (delq 32 chars-list)) (let ((--dolist-tail-- chars-list)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((ch (car --dolist-tail--))) (setq otherchars-list (if (member ch otherchars-list) otherchars-list (cons ch otherchars-list))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--)))))))) (and (buffer-name temp-buffer) (kill-buffer temp-buffer))))) (setq dict-arg (concat dict-arg (if (> (length dict-arg) 0) ",") dict-name)))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--))))) (list dict-key "[[:alpha:]]" "[^[:alpha:]]" (if otherchars-list (regexp-opt (mapcar (function char-to-string) otherchars-list)) "") t (list "-d" dict-arg) nil 'utf-8)) ispell-parse-hunspell-affix-file(nil) (setq hunspell-default-dict-entry (ispell-parse-hunspell-affix-file hunspell-default-dict)) (let ((hunspell-found-dicts (split-string (let ((temp-buffer (generate-new-buffer " *temp*"))) (save-current-buffer (set-buffer temp-buffer) (unwind-protect (progn (ispell-call-process ispell-program-name null-device t nil "-D") (buffer-string)) (and (buffer-name temp-buffer) (kill-buffer temp-buffer))))) "[\n\015]+" t)) hunspell-default-dict hunspell-default-dict-entry hunspell-multi-dict) (let ((--dolist-tail-- hunspell-found-dicts)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((dict (car --dolist-tail--))) (let* ((full-name (file-name-nondirectory dict)) (basename (file-name-sans-extension full-name)) (affix-file (concat dict ".aff"))) (if (string-match "\\.aff$" dict) (progn (if hunspell-default-dict (setq hunspell-multi-dict (concat (or hunspell-multi-dict (car hunspell-default-dict)) "," basename)) (setq affix-file dict) (setq hunspell-default-dict (list basename affix-file))) (ispell-print-if-debug "++ ispell-fhd: default dict-entry:%s name:%s basename:%s\n" dict full-name basename)) (if (and (not (assoc basename ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist)) (file-exists-p affix-file)) (let ((affix-file (expand-file-name affix-file))) (ispell-print-if-debug "++ ispell-fhd: dict-entry:%s name:%s basename:%s affix-file:%s\n" dict full-name basename affix-file) (setq ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist (let* ((va (list basename affix-file))) (if (member va ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist) ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist (cons va ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist))))) (ispell-print-if-debug "-- ispell-fhd: Skipping entry: %s\n" dict)))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--))))) (let (newlist) (let ((--dolist-tail-- ispell-dicts-name2locale-equivs-alist)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((dict (car --dolist-tail--))) (if (assoc (car dict) ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist) (ispell-print-if-debug "-- ispell-fhd: Excluding %s alias. Standalone dict found.\n" (car dict)) (setq newlist (if (member dict newlist) newlist (cons dict newlist)))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--))))) (setq ispell-dicts-name2locale-equivs-alist newlist)) (let ((--dolist-tail-- ispell-dicts-name2locale-equivs-alist)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((dict-equiv (car --dolist-tail--))) (let ((dict-equiv-key (car dict-equiv)) (dict-equiv-value (car (cdr dict-equiv))) (exclude-aliases (list "esperanto-tex" "francais7" "francais-tex" "norsk7-tex"))) (if (and (assoc dict-equiv-value ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist) (not (assoc dict-equiv-key ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist)) (not (member dict-equiv-key exclude-aliases))) (let ((affix-file (car (cdr (assoc dict-equiv-value ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist))))) (ispell-print-if-debug "++ ispell-fhd: Adding alias %s -> %s.\n" dict-equiv-key affix-file) (setq ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist (let* ((va (list dict-equiv-key affix-file))) (if (member va ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist) ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist (cons va ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist))))))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--))))) (setq hunspell-default-dict (or ispell-dictionary hunspell-multi-dict (car hunspell-default-dict))) (setq hunspell-default-dict-entry (ispell-parse-hunspell-affix-file hunspell-default-dict)) (setq ispell-hunspell-dictionary-alist (list (cons nil (cdr hunspell-default-dict-entry)))) (let ((--dolist-tail-- (mapcar (function car) ispell-hunspell-dict-paths-alist))) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((dict (car --dolist-tail--))) (setq ispell-hunspell-dictionary-alist (let* ((va (if (string= dict hunspell-default-dict) hunspell-default-dict-entry (list dict)))) (if (member va ispell-hunspell-dictionary-alist) ispell-hunspell-dictionary-alist (cons va ispell-hunspell-dictionary-alist)))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--)))))) ispell-find-hunspell-dictionaries() eval((ispell-find-hunspell-dictionaries) nil) elisp--eval-last-sexp(t) eval-last-sexp(t) eval-print-last-sexp(nil) funcall-interactively(eval-print-last-sexp nil) call-interactively(eval-print-last-sexp nil nil) command-execute(eval-print-last-sexp) The output of hunspell -D is: SEARCH PATH: .::/home/gregor/.config/libreoffice/4/user/wordbook::/usr/share/hunspell:/usr/share/myspell:/usr/share/myspell/dicts:/Library/Spelling:/home/gregor/. openoffice.org/3/user/wordbook:/home/gregor/.openoffice.org2/user/wordbook:/home/gregor/.openoffice.org2.0/user/wordbook:/home/gregor/Library/Spelling:/opt/openoffice.org/basis3.0/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org/basis3.0/share/dict/ooo:/opt/openoffice.org2.4/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org2.4/share/dict/ooo:/opt/openoffice.org2.3/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org2.3/share/dict/ooo:/opt/openoffice.org2.2/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org2.2/share/dict/ooo:/opt/openoffice.org2.1/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org2.1/share/dict/ooo:/opt/openoffice.org2.0/share/dict/ooo:/usr/lib/openoffice.org2.0/share/dict/ooo AVAILABLE DICTIONARIES (path is not mandatory for -d option): /home/gregor/.config/libreoffice/4/user/wordbook/standard /usr/share/hunspell/en_PH /usr/share/hunspell/en_US-large /usr/share/hunspell/en_US /usr/share/myspell/dicts/en_PH /usr/share/myspell/dicts/en_US-large /usr/share/myspell/dicts/en_US /home/gregor/Library/Spelling/en_GB /home/gregor/Library/Spelling/sl_SI Which causes the error since none of the listed dictionary files ends in .aff, which causes the hunspell-default-dict to be nil on line 1179 in ispell.el, which causes the error in the next sexp. The consequences of this error are that spell checking does not work with hunspell and it is not possible to set a dictionary via ispell-change-dictionary. The quick and dirty fix of changing the line to (setq hunspell-default-dict (or "british" hunspell-multi-dict (car hunspell-default-dict))) (added "british" to the or) the problem goes away, and spell checking works as expected. hunspell version: $ hunspell --version @(#) International Ispell Version 3.2.06 (but really Hunspell 1.7.0) Copyright (C) 2002-2014 László Németh. License: MPL/GPL/LGPL. Based on OpenOffice.org's Myspell library. Myspell's copyright (C) Kevin Hendricks, 2001-2002, License: BSD. This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, to the extent permitted by law. In GNU Emacs 26.1 (build 1, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.22.30) of 2018-07-05 built on juergen Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12003000 Recent messages: Checking 105 files in /usr/share/emacs/26.1/lisp/obsolete... Checking for load-path shadows...done Mark set [2 times] Auto-saving...done Mark set Sending... Mark set [2 times] Sending via mail... Sending...done Making completion list... Configured using: 'configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --libexecdir=/usr/lib --localstatedir=/var --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 --with-xft --with-modules 'CFLAGS=-march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -fstack-protector-strong -fno-plt' CPPFLAGS=-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 LDFLAGS=-Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro,-z,now' Configured features: XPM JPEG TIFF GIF PNG RSVG IMAGEMAGICK SOUND GPM DBUS GSETTINGS NOTIFY ACL GNUTLS LIBXML2 FREETYPE M17N_FLT LIBOTF XFT ZLIB TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS GTK3 X11 MODULES THREADS LIBSYSTEMD LCMS2 Important settings: value of $LANG: en_GB.utf8 locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix Major mode: Lisp Interaction Minor modes in effect: tooltip-mode: t global-eldoc-mode: t eldoc-mode: t electric-indent-mode: t mouse-wheel-mode: t tool-bar-mode: t menu-bar-mode: t file-name-shadow-mode: t global-font-lock-mode: t font-lock-mode: t blink-cursor-mode: t auto-composition-mode: t auto-encryption-mode: t auto-compression-mode: t line-number-mode: t transient-mark-mode: t Load-path shadows: None found. Features: (mailalias mailclient browse-url qp cus-edit cus-start cus-load wid-edit pp shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug message rmc puny seq dired dired-loaddefs format-spec rfc822 mml mml-sec password-cache epa derived epg epg-config gnus-util rmail rmail-loaddefs mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader sendmail rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils help-mode easymenu cl-print byte-opt bytecomp byte-compile cconv debug ispell easy-mmode cl-macs gv subr-x cl-loaddefs cl-lib jka-compr elec-pair time-date mule-util tooltip eldoc electric uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel term/x-win x-win term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment text-mode elisp-mode lisp-mode prog-mode register page menu-bar rfn-eshadow isearch timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax facemenu font-core term/tty-colors frame cl-generic cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese composite charscript charprop case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev obarray minibuffer cl-preloaded nadvice loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files text-properties overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget hashtable-print-readable backquote dbusbind inotify lcms2 dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting move-toolbar gtk x-toolkit x multi-tty make-network-process emacs) Memory information: ((conses 16 144202 35741) (symbols 48 22905 5) (miscs 40 134 517) (strings 32 35096 3840) (string-bytes 1 960874) (vectors 16 22356) (vector-slots 8 1236476 199416) (floats 8 69 414) (intervals 56 2733 16) (buffers 992 17))