diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/FormatSpec.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/FormatSpec.java
index f85431ee8..555c71b4c 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/FormatSpec.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/FormatSpec.java
@@ -379,6 +379,15 @@ public final class FormatSpec {
             mHeaderSize = headerSize;
             mDictionaryOptions = dictionaryOptions;
             mFormatOptions = formatOptions;
+            if (null == getLocaleString()) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Cannot create a FileHeader without a locale");
+            }
+            if (null == getVersion()) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Cannot create a FileHeader without a version");
+            }
+            if (null == getId()) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Cannot create a FileHeader without an ID");
+            }
         }
 
         // Helper method to get the locale as a String
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/Ver4DictUpdater.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/Ver4DictUpdater.java
index 883709f83..91d9cf345 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/Ver4DictUpdater.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/Ver4DictUpdater.java
@@ -140,8 +140,10 @@ public class Ver4DictUpdater extends Ver4DictDecoder implements DictUpdater {
 
     @Override
     public void deleteWord(final String word) throws IOException, UnsupportedFormatException {
-        if (mDictBuffer == null) openDictBuffer();
-        readHeader();
+        if (mDictBuffer == null) {
+            openDictBuffer();
+            readHeader();
+        }
         final int wordPos = getTerminalPosition(word);
         if (wordPos != FormatSpec.NOT_VALID_WORD) {
             mDictBuffer.position(wordPos);
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests.java b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests.java
index c4749df82..05de37d4c 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests.java
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ public class BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests extends AndroidTestCase {
                 getContext().getCacheDir());
 
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
         addUnigrams(words.size(), dict, words, shortcuts);
         addBigrams(dict, words, bigrams);
         checkDictionary(dict, words, bigrams, shortcuts);
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ public class BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests extends AndroidTestCase {
 
         // making the dictionary from lists of words.
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
         addUnigrams(words.size(), dict, words, null /* shortcutMap */);
         addBigrams(dict, words, bigrams);
 
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ public class BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests extends AndroidTestCase {
                 getContext().getCacheDir());
 
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
         addUnigrams(sWords.size(), dict, sWords, null /* shortcutMap */);
         addBigrams(dict, words, bigrams);
         timeWritingDictToFile(file, dict, formatOptions);
@@ -649,8 +649,7 @@ public class BinaryDictDecoderEncoderTests extends AndroidTestCase {
                 getContext().getCacheDir());
 
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                new FusionDictionary.DictionaryOptions(
-                        new HashMap<String, String>(), false, false));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(dictName, dictVersion));
         addUnigrams(sWords.size(), dict, sWords, null /* shortcutMap */);
         timeWritingDictToFile(file, dict, formatOptions);
 
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictIOUtilsTests.java b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictIOUtilsTests.java
index 8bea3c074..da217cea6 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictIOUtilsTests.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictIOUtilsTests.java
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ public class BinaryDictIOUtilsTests extends AndroidTestCase {
 
         // set an initial dictionary.
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
         dict.add("abcd", 10, null, false);
 
         try {
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ public class BinaryDictIOUtilsTests extends AndroidTestCase {
 
         // set an initial dictionary.
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
         dict.add("abcd", 10, null, false);
         dict.add("efgh", 15, null, false);
 
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ public class BinaryDictIOUtilsTests extends AndroidTestCase {
 
         // set an initial dictionary.
         final FusionDictionary dict = new FusionDictionary(new PtNodeArray(),
-                BinaryDictUtils.getDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
+                BinaryDictUtils.makeDictionaryOptions(testName, version));
         dict.add("initial", 10, null, false);
 
         try {
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictUtils.java b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictUtils.java
index 5ec37255d..8b1521a6c 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictUtils.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/makedict/BinaryDictUtils.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package com.android.inputmethod.latin.makedict;
 
+import com.android.inputmethod.latin.makedict.FormatSpec.FileHeader;
 import com.android.inputmethod.latin.makedict.FormatSpec.FormatOptions;
 import com.android.inputmethod.latin.makedict.FusionDictionary.DictionaryOptions;
 
@@ -41,11 +42,12 @@ public class BinaryDictUtils {
             new FormatSpec.FormatOptions(4, true /* supportsDynamicUpdate */,
                     true /* hasTimestamp */);
 
-    public static DictionaryOptions getDictionaryOptions(final String id, final String version) {
+    public static DictionaryOptions makeDictionaryOptions(final String id, final String version) {
         final DictionaryOptions options = new DictionaryOptions(new HashMap<String, String>(),
                 false /* germanUmlautProcessing */, false /* frenchLigatureProcessing */);
-        options.mAttributes.put("dictionary", id);
-        options.mAttributes.put("version", version);
+        options.mAttributes.put(FileHeader.DICTIONARY_LOCALE_ATTRIBUTE, "en_US");
+        options.mAttributes.put(FileHeader.DICTIONARY_ID_ATTRIBUTE, id);
+        options.mAttributes.put(FileHeader.DICTIONARY_VERSION_ATTRIBUTE, version);
         return options;
     }