diff --git a/DynamicMeter.c b/DynamicMeter.c
index 3b567a53..605bbc3d 100644
--- a/DynamicMeter.c
+++ b/DynamicMeter.c
@@ -36,20 +36,24 @@ Hashtable* DynamicMeters_new(void) {
 typedef struct {
    unsigned int key;
    const char* name;
+   bool found;
 } DynamicIterator;
 
 static void DynamicMeter_compare(ht_key_t key, void* value, void* data) {
    const DynamicMeter* meter = (const DynamicMeter*)value;
    DynamicIterator* iter = (DynamicIterator*)data;
-   if (String_eq(iter->name, meter->name))
+   if (String_eq(iter->name, meter->name)) {
+      iter->found = true;
       iter->key = key;
+   }
 }
 
-unsigned int DynamicMeter_search(const ProcessList* pl, const char* name) {
-   DynamicIterator iter = { .key = 0, .name = name };
+bool DynamicMeter_search(const ProcessList* pl, const char* name, unsigned int* key) {
+   DynamicIterator iter = { .key = 0, .name = name, .found = false };
    if (pl->dynamicMeters)
       Hashtable_foreach(pl->dynamicMeters, DynamicMeter_compare, &iter);
-   return iter.key;
+   *key = iter.key;
+   return iter.found;
 }
 
 const char* DynamicMeter_lookup(const ProcessList* pl, unsigned int key) {
diff --git a/DynamicMeter.h b/DynamicMeter.h
index 3d1bc9f2..e723503b 100644
--- a/DynamicMeter.h
+++ b/DynamicMeter.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Hashtable* DynamicMeters_new(void);
 
 const char* DynamicMeter_lookup(const ProcessList* pl, unsigned int param);
 
-unsigned int DynamicMeter_search(const ProcessList* pl, const char* name);
+bool DynamicMeter_search(const ProcessList* pl, const char* name, unsigned int* key);
 
 extern const MeterClass DynamicMeter_class;
 
diff --git a/Header.c b/Header.c
index 0fdafea5..3b576a73 100644
--- a/Header.c
+++ b/Header.c
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ void Header_populateFromSettings(Header* this) {
    Header_forEachColumn(this, col) {
       const MeterColumnSettings* colSettings = &this->settings->columns[col];
       for (int i = 0; i < colSettings->len; i++) {
-         Header_addMeterByName(this, colSettings->names[i], col);
+         if (!Header_addMeterByName(this, colSettings->names[i], col)) {
+            continue;
+         }
          if (colSettings->modes[i] != 0) {
             Header_setMode(this, i, colSettings->modes[i], col);
          }
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ void Header_writeBackToSettings(const Header* this) {
    }
 }
 
-MeterModeId Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column) {
+bool Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column) {
    Vector* meters = this->columns[column];
 
    char* paren = strchr(name, '(');
@@ -95,18 +97,20 @@ MeterModeId Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column) {
       char* end, dynamic[32] = {0};
       int ok = sscanf(paren, "(%10u)", &param); // CPUMeter
       if (!ok) {
-         ok = sscanf(paren, "(%30s)", dynamic); // DynamicMeter
-         if (ok && (end = strrchr(dynamic, ')'))) *end = '\0';
-         param = ok ? DynamicMeter_search(this->pl, dynamic) : 0;
+         if (sscanf(paren, "(%30s)", dynamic)) { // DynamicMeter
+            if ((end = strrchr(dynamic, ')')) == NULL)
+               return false;    // indicate htoprc parse failure
+            *end = '\0';
+            if (!DynamicMeter_search(this->pl, dynamic, &param))
+               return false;    // indicates name lookup failure
+         }
       }
       *paren = '\0';
    }
-   MeterModeId mode = TEXT_METERMODE;
    for (const MeterClass* const* type = Platform_meterTypes; *type; type++) {
       if (String_eq(name, (*type)->name)) {
          Meter* meter = Meter_new(this->pl, param, *type);
          Vector_add(meters, meter);
-         mode = meter->mode;
          break;
       }
    }
@@ -114,7 +118,7 @@ MeterModeId Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column) {
    if (paren)
       *paren = '(';
 
-   return mode;
+   return true;
 }
 
 void Header_setMode(Header* this, int i, MeterModeId mode, int column) {
diff --git a/Header.h b/Header.h
index 7f6943c1..22a37074 100644
--- a/Header.h
+++ b/Header.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ void Header_populateFromSettings(Header* this);
 
 void Header_writeBackToSettings(const Header* this);
 
-MeterModeId Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column);
+bool Header_addMeterByName(Header* this, const char* name, int column);
 
 void Header_setMode(Header* this, int i, MeterModeId mode, int column);