diff --git a/includes/media.filter.inc b/includes/media.filter.inc
index 1e93742..fab291f 100644
--- a/includes/media.filter.inc
+++ b/includes/media.filter.inc
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ function media_parse_css_declarations($declarations) {
  */
 function media_token_to_markup($match, $wysiwyg = FALSE) {
   $settings = array();
-  $match = str_replace("[[", "", $match);
-  $match = str_replace("]]", "", $match);
-  $tag = $match[0];
+  $input = $match[0];
+  $tag = str_replace("[[", "", $input);
+  $tag = str_replace("]]", "", $tag);
 
   try {
     if (!is_string($tag)) {
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ function media_token_to_markup($match, $wysiwyg = FALSE) {
   }
   catch (Exception $e) {
     watchdog('media', 'Unable to render media from %tag. Error: %error', array('%tag' => $tag, '%error' => $e->getMessage()));
-    return '';
+    return $input;
   }
 
   if ($wysiwyg) {