diff --git a/src/emu/softlist.c b/src/emu/softlist.c
index bd7a593b9f6..2fcf958898e 100644
--- a/src/emu/softlist.c
+++ b/src/emu/softlist.c
@@ -1851,10 +1851,9 @@ void validate_softlists(emu_options &options)
 								}
 
 								/* check for duplicate descriptions */
-								if (descriptions.add(swinfo->longname, swinfo, FALSE) == TMERR_DUPLICATE)
+								if (descriptions.add(astring(swinfo->longname).tolower().cstr(), swinfo, FALSE) == TMERR_DUPLICATE)
 								{
-									software_info *match = names.find(swinfo->shortname);
-									mame_printf_error("%s: %s is a duplicate description (%s)\n", list->file->filename(), swinfo->longname, match->longname);
+									mame_printf_error("%s: %s is a duplicate description (%s)\n", list->file->filename(), swinfo->longname, swinfo->shortname);
 									error = TRUE;
 								}