diff --git a/questions.inc.php b/questions.inc.php
index 68359ca3..42ddd460 100644
--- a/questions.inc.php
+++ b/questions.inc.php
@@ -169,6 +169,8 @@ function questions_parse_from_http_headers($array_name)
 
 function questions_update_question($qs)
 {
+	global $pdo;
+	$qs['ord'] = $qs['ord'] ?? '';
 	$stmt = $pdo->prepare("UPDATE questions SET 
 			`question`='".$qs['question']."',
 			`type`='".$qs['type']."',
@@ -181,7 +183,8 @@ function questions_update_question($qs)
 }
 
 function questions_save_new_question($qs, $year)
-{	global $pdo;
+{	
+	global $pdo;
 	$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO questions ".
 		"(question,type,section,db_heading,required,ord,year) VALUES (".
 			"'".$qs['question']."',".
@@ -206,8 +209,7 @@ function questions_save_new_question($qs, $year)
  *  all elements */
 function questions_editor($section, $year, $array_name, $self) 
 {
-	global $config;
-	global $pdo;
+	global $config, $pdo;
 	if(get_value_from_array($_POST, 'action') == "save") {
 
 		$qs = questions_parse_from_http_headers('question');