diff --git a/lisp/startup.el b/lisp/startup.el
index c1e56fcdff3..4eb71abaacf 100644
--- a/lisp/startup.el
+++ b/lisp/startup.el
@@ -2534,9 +2534,9 @@ nil default-directory" name)
                    ((eq initial-buffer-choice t)
                     (get-buffer-create "*scratch*"))
                    (t
-                    (error "initial-buffer-choice must be a string, a function, or t.")))))
+                    (error "`initial-buffer-choice' must be a string, a function, or t")))))
         (unless (buffer-live-p buf)
-          (error "initial-buffer-choice is not a live buffer."))
+          (error "Value returned by `initial-buffer-choice' is not a live buffer: %S" buf))
         (setq displayable-buffers (cons buf (delq buf displayable-buffers)))))
 
     ;; Display the first two buffers in `displayable-buffers'.  If
diff --git a/src/editfns.c b/src/editfns.c
index 0fbc5aad8c3..a4cff595bd0 100644
--- a/src/editfns.c
+++ b/src/editfns.c
@@ -4268,6 +4268,9 @@ styled_format (ptrdiff_t nargs, Lisp_Object *args, bool message)
     /* The start and end bytepos in the output string.  */
     ptrdiff_t start, end;
 
+    /* The start of the spec in the format string.  */
+    ptrdiff_t fbeg;
+
     /* Whether the argument is a string with intervals.  */
     bool_bf intervals : 1;
   } *info;
@@ -4421,6 +4424,7 @@ styled_format (ptrdiff_t nargs, Lisp_Object *args, bool message)
 	  char conversion = *format++;
 	  memset (&discarded[format0 - format_start], 1,
 		  format - format0 - (conversion == '%'));
+	  info[ispec].fbeg = format0 - format_start;
 	  if (conversion == '%')
 	    {
 	      new_result = true;
@@ -5011,7 +5015,9 @@ styled_format (ptrdiff_t nargs, Lisp_Object *args, bool message)
 		  else if (discarded[bytepos] == 1)
 		    {
 		      position++;
-		      if (fieldn < nspec && translated == info[fieldn].start)
+		      if (fieldn < nspec
+			  && position > info[fieldn].fbeg
+			  && translated == info[fieldn].start)
 			{
 			  translated += info[fieldn].end - info[fieldn].start;
 			  fieldn++;
@@ -5031,7 +5037,9 @@ styled_format (ptrdiff_t nargs, Lisp_Object *args, bool message)
 		  else if (discarded[bytepos] == 1)
 		    {
 		      position++;
-		      if (fieldn < nspec && translated == info[fieldn].start)
+		      if (fieldn < nspec
+			  && position > info[fieldn].fbeg
+			  && translated == info[fieldn].start)
 			{
 			  translated += info[fieldn].end - info[fieldn].start;
 			  fieldn++;
diff --git a/test/lisp/wdired-tests.el b/test/lisp/wdired-tests.el
index b4ef4ab2486..f1ec4afb6c5 100644
--- a/test/lisp/wdired-tests.el
+++ b/test/lisp/wdired-tests.el
@@ -116,13 +116,13 @@ wdired-mode."
 	    (kill-region (point) (progn (search-forward ".")
 					(forward-char -1) (point)))
 	    (insert replace)
-	    (should (equal (dired-get-filename) new-file))))
+	    (should (equal (dired-get-filename) new-file)))
 	(when buf
 	  (with-current-buffer buf
             ;; Prevent kill-buffer-query-functions from chiming in.
 	    (set-buffer-modified-p nil)
 	    (kill-buffer buf)))
-	(delete-directory test-dir t))))
+	(delete-directory test-dir t)))))
 
 
 (provide 'wdired-tests)
diff --git a/test/src/editfns-tests.el b/test/src/editfns-tests.el
index 2951270dbf7..aa896b06499 100644
--- a/test/src/editfns-tests.el
+++ b/test/src/editfns-tests.el
@@ -88,7 +88,21 @@
            (format "%-10s" (concat (propertize "01" 'face 'bold)
                                    (propertize "23" 'face 'underline)
                                    (propertize "45" 'face 'italic)))
-           #("012345    " 0 2 (face bold) 2 4 (face underline) 4 10 (face italic)))))
+           #("012345    "
+             0 2 (face bold) 2 4 (face underline) 4 10 (face italic))))
+  ;; Bug #32404
+  (should (ert-equal-including-properties
+           (format (concat (propertize "%s" 'face 'bold)
+                           ""
+                           (propertize "%s" 'face 'error))
+                   "foo" "bar")
+           #("foobar" 0 3 (face bold) 3 6 (face error))))
+  (should (ert-equal-including-properties
+           (format (concat "%s" (propertize "%s" 'face 'error)) "foo" "bar")
+           #("foobar" 3 6 (face error))))
+  (should (ert-equal-including-properties
+           (format (concat "%s " (propertize "%s" 'face 'error)) "foo" "bar")
+           #("foo bar" 4 7 (face error)))))
 
 ;; Tests for bug#5131.
 (defun transpose-test-reverse-word (start end)