diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/members/readingrec.tt b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/members/readingrec.tt
index 47ed060685..740fd3fd1d 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/members/readingrec.tt
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/members/readingrec.tt
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 <h1>Circulation history</h1>
 
 [% IF is_anonymous %]
-    <div class="dialog alert">This is the anonymous patron.</div>
+    <div class="dialog alert">This is the anonymous patron, so no circulation history is displayed. To get a list of anonymized loans, please run a report.</div>
 [% ELSIF ( !loop_reading ) %]
     <div class="dialog message">This patron has no circulation history.</div>
 [% ELSE %]
diff --git a/members/readingrec.pl b/members/readingrec.pl
index 2a57c42992..2cb9437591 100755
--- a/members/readingrec.pl
+++ b/members/readingrec.pl
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ my $order = 'date_due desc';
 my $limit = 0;
 my $issues = ();
 # Do not request the old issues of anonymous patron
-if ( $borrowernumber == C4::Context->preference('AnonymousPatron') ){
+if ( $borrowernumber eq C4::Context->preference('AnonymousPatron') ){
+    # use of 'eq' in the above comparison is intentional -- the
+    # system preference value could be blank
     $template->param( is_anonymous => 1 );
 } else {
     $issues = GetAllIssues($borrowernumber,$order,$limit);