diff --git a/src/h5core/h5t_errorhandling.c b/src/h5core/h5t_errorhandling.c
index 1286eb2..a2a1cc9 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5t_errorhandling.c
+++ b/src/h5core/h5t_errorhandling.c
@@ -15,16 +15,19 @@ h5tpriv_error_local_elem_nexist (
 	h5_file_t * const f,
 	h5_id_t local_vids[]
 	) {
+	h5t_fdata_t* t = f->t;
 	char s[1024];
 
 	int num_chars_printed = snprintf (s, sizeof(s), "%lld,", local_vids[0]);
 	int i;
-	for (i = 1; i < f->t->mesh_type; i++) {
+	int num_vertices = t->ref_element->num_faces[0];
+	for (i = 1; i < num_vertices; i++) {
 		num_chars_printed += snprintf (
 			s+num_chars_printed, sizeof(s)-num_chars_printed,
 			"%lld,", local_vids[i]);
 		if ((sizeof(s) - num_chars_printed) < 32) {
-			h5_error_internal ( f, __FILE__, __func__, __LINE__ );
+			// buffer to small
+			return h5_error_internal (f, __FILE__, __func__, __LINE__);
 		}
 	}