diff --git a/plugins/Quotes.py b/plugins/Quotes.py
index 4d1ef41d2..22bb8d75b 100644
--- a/plugins/Quotes.py
+++ b/plugins/Quotes.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class QuoteRecord(object):
 
 class SqliteQuotesDB(object):
     def _getDb(self, channel):
-        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Quotes.db', channel)
+        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Quotes.db')
         if os.path.exists(filename):
             return sqlite.connect(db=filename, mode=0755,
                                   converters={'bool': bool})
diff --git a/plugins/__init__.py b/plugins/__init__.py
index d1e63c105..f7466afb8 100644
--- a/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ class DBHandler(object):
 
 
 def makeChannelFilename(channel, filename, dirname=None):
+    assert ircutils.isChannel(channel), 'channel not a channel, ' \
+           'the arguments to makeChannelFilename are probably reversed.'
     assert filename == os.path.basename(filename), 'We don\'t handle dirs.'
     channel = ircutils.toLower(channel)
     if conf.supybot.databases.plugins.channelSpecific.get(channel)():