diff --git a/module_citeq.lua b/module_citeq.lua
index 8bca78e..d590967 100644
--- a/module_citeq.lua
+++ b/module_citeq.lua
@@ -1132,7 +1132,9 @@ local function cite_q (frame)
 	local args = require ('Module:Arguments').getArgs(frame);
 
 	args.qid = args.qid or args[1];
-	if not args.qid then return nil end											-- this should return an error message?
+	if not args.qid then
+		return cfg.i18n_t.errors.bad_qid_form .. cfg.i18n_t.trackingcats["invalid-qid"]
+	end
 	args[1] = nil;																-- unset; not needed
 
 	local citesep = args.citesep;												-- separator string between separate cites of {{cite q|q..., q...}}; any need to keep this?
@@ -1152,9 +1154,6 @@ local function cite_q (frame)
 	args.lang = nil
 
 	-- QID as normal form; emit error if not ^Q%d+$ (e.g. a Wikidata URL)
---	local qid_form = mw.ustring.match(mw.text.trim(args.qid), "^Q%d+$") or nil
---	if not qid_form then
---		return ' <span class="error" style="font-size:inherit"><code class="cs1-code">{{[[Template:Cite Q|Cite Q]]}}</code>: QID parameter must be supplied as "Q" followed by digits, e.g. <code class="cs1-code">Q12345</code> ([[Template:Cite Q#Error messages|help]])</span> ' .. cfg.i18n_t.trackingcats["invalid-qid"]
 	if not args.qid:match ('^Q%d+$') then
 		return cfg.i18n_t.errors.bad_qid_form .. cfg.i18n_t.trackingcats["invalid-qid"];
 	end