diff --git a/contribs/application/src/main/java/org/matsim/application/prepare/population/SplitActivityTypesDuration.java b/contribs/application/src/main/java/org/matsim/application/prepare/population/SplitActivityTypesDuration.java
index b49a1d5b2c4..9bf459cdc19 100644
--- a/contribs/application/src/main/java/org/matsim/application/prepare/population/SplitActivityTypesDuration.java
+++ b/contribs/application/src/main/java/org/matsim/application/prepare/population/SplitActivityTypesDuration.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import picocli.CommandLine;
 
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ public class SplitActivityTypesDuration implements MATSimAppCommand, PersonAlgor
 	private String subpopulation;
 
 	@CommandLine.Option(names = "--exclude", description = "Activity types that won't be split", split = ",", defaultValue = "")
-	private Set<String> exclude;
+	private Set<String> exclude = new HashSet<>();
 
 
 	/**
@@ -65,6 +66,13 @@ public SplitActivityTypesDuration(int activityBinSize, int maxTypicalDuration, i
 		this.endTimeToDuration = endTimeToDuration;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set activity types to be excluded from splitting.
+	 */
+	public void setExclude(Set<String> exclude) {
+		this.exclude = exclude;
+	}
+
 	public static void main(String[] args) {
 		new SplitActivityTypesDuration().execute(args);
 	}
diff --git a/contribs/informed-mode-choice/src/main/java/org/matsim/modechoice/search/ModeChoiceSearch.java b/contribs/informed-mode-choice/src/main/java/org/matsim/modechoice/search/ModeChoiceSearch.java
index 9764e80cad7..755fb3d006c 100644
--- a/contribs/informed-mode-choice/src/main/java/org/matsim/modechoice/search/ModeChoiceSearch.java
+++ b/contribs/informed-mode-choice/src/main/java/org/matsim/modechoice/search/ModeChoiceSearch.java
@@ -194,10 +194,8 @@ public double nextDouble() {
 
 			for (int i = 0; i < result.length; i++) {
 
-				byte[] path = Arrays.copyOf(entry.modes, entry.modes.length);
-
 				byte mode = -1;
-				byte originalMode = path[i];
+				byte originalMode = entry.modes[i];
 
 				// This mode had no options
 				if (originalMode == -1)
@@ -215,8 +213,9 @@ public double nextDouble() {
 					}
 				}
 
-				path[i] = mode;
 				if (mode != -1) {
+					byte[] path = Arrays.copyOf(entry.modes, entry.modes.length);
+					path[i] = mode;
 
 					// recompute the deviation from the maximum
 					// there might be a way to store and update this, without recomputing