diff --git a/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/RecordTransformer.java b/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/RecordTransformer.java
index b3a8146a..f49162ed 100644
--- a/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/RecordTransformer.java
+++ b/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/RecordTransformer.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ private void processBind(final Do theDo, final EList<String> params) {
                     // w/o var -> use the currently bound value as the record:
                     else {
                         if (value.isHash()) {
-                            final Record fullRecord = record.shallowClone();
+                            final Record fullRecord = record;
                             record = new Record();
                             record.addAll(value.asHash());
                             processSubexpressions(theDo.getElements());
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ record = fullRecord;
                         }
                         else {
                             // TODO: bind to arrays (if that makes sense) and strings (access with '.')
-                            throw new IllegalStateException(Value.UNEXPECTED + value);
+                            throw new IllegalStateException("expected hash, got " + value);
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/Value.java b/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/Value.java
index 74983057..fc20dc45 100644
--- a/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/Value.java
+++ b/metafix/src/main/java/org/metafacture/metafix/Value.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
  * or a {@link java.lang.String String}.
  */
 public class Value {
-    /*package-private*/ static final String UNEXPECTED = "expected array or hash, got ";
+
     /*package-private*/ static final String APPEND_FIELD = "$append";
     private static final String LAST_FIELD = "$last";
     private static final String ASTERISK = "*";
@@ -420,8 +420,8 @@ private void insert(final InsertMode mode, final String[] fields, final String n
             }
         }
 
-        /*package-private*/ void set(final int i, final Value value) {
-            list.set(i, value);
+        /*package-private*/ void set(final int index, final Value value) {
+            list.set(index, value);
         }
 
     }
@@ -433,6 +433,8 @@ public static class Hash extends AbstractValueType {
 
         private static final String FIELD_PATH_SEPARATOR = "\\.";
 
+        private static final String UNEXPECTED = "expected array or hash, got ";
+
         private final Map<String, Value> map = new LinkedHashMap<>();
 
         /**