diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 268eac3..5dafbeb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .DS_Store
 input.rb
+errors/
+plans/
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fa99169..f611325 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# v0.0.25 - 26 September 2025
+
+* Fixed a crashing bug when assigning `nil` to an input. (thanks @vinnydiehl on Discord for reporting)
+* Fixed a related bug when initializing the input with a non-string, non-falsey value.
+
 # v0.0.24 - 9 March 2025
 
 * Fixed a bug that caused `delete_back` to result in negative `selection_start`/`selection_end` for an empty input. (thanks @Artem on Discord for reporting and sending the PR)
diff --git a/lib/base.rb b/lib/base.rb
index 7e7dcba..d955007 100644
--- a/lib/base.rb
+++ b/lib/base.rb
@@ -148,10 +148,11 @@ def blur
     end
 
     def value=(text)
-      text = text[0, @max_length] if @max_length
-      @value.replace(text)
-      @selection_start = @selection_start.lesser(text.length)
-      @selection_end = @selection_end.lesser(text.length)
+      val = text.to_s
+      val = val[0, @max_length] if @max_length
+      @value.replace(val)
+      @selection_start = @selection_start.lesser(val.length)
+      @selection_end = @selection_end.lesser(val.length)
     end
 
     def size_enum
diff --git a/lib/text.rb b/lib/text.rb
index bb26498..6182c3f 100644
--- a/lib/text.rb
+++ b/lib/text.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module Input
   class Text < Base
     def initialize(**params)
-      @value = TextValue.new(params[:value] || '')
+      @value = TextValue.new(params[:value].to_s)
       super
     end
 
diff --git a/publish b/publish
index f8f24f0..90e72b4 100755
--- a/publish
+++ b/publish
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 rm game_state*.txt
 cd ..
-./dragonruby-publish dr-input
+./dragonruby-publish "$@" dr-input
diff --git a/tests/tests.rb b/tests/tests.rb
index 2f5d53d..f338a94 100644
--- a/tests/tests.rb
+++ b/tests/tests.rb
@@ -435,6 +435,53 @@ def test_menu_calculates_menu_items_to_show_long(args, assert)
   assert.equal! menu.items_to_show(110), [995, 5], "with selected_index: #{menu.selected_index}"
 end
 
+# ---------------------- delete_back ----------------------
+
+def test_delete_back(_args, assert)
+  input = build_text_input('1234567890', 10, 10)
+  input.delete_back
+
+  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, '123456789'
+  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 9
+  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 9
+end
+
+def test_delete_back_empty_value(_args, assert)
+  input = build_text_input('', 0, 0)
+  input.delete_back
+
+  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, ''
+  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 0
+  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 0
+end
+
+# ---------------------- bug fixes -----------------------
+
+def test_assign_text_nil(_args, assert)
+  input = build_text_input('1234567890', 10, 10)
+  input.value = nil
+
+  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, ''
+  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 0
+  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 0
+end
+
+def test_create_with_nil_value(_args, assert)
+  input = build_text_input(nil)
+
+  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, ''
+  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 0
+  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 0
+end
+
+def test_create_with_non_string_non_falsey_value(_args, assert)
+  input = build_text_input(true)
+
+  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, 'true'
+  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 0
+  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 0
+end
+
 # ---------------------- helper methods ----------------------
 
 def build_text_input(value, selection_start = 0, selection_end = selection_start, **attr)
@@ -515,23 +562,3 @@ def mouse_up
   $args.inputs.mouse.click = nil
   $args.inputs.mouse.up = true
 end
-
-# ---------------------- delete_back ----------------------
-
-def test_delete_back(_args, assert)
-  input = build_text_input('1234567890', 10, 10)
-  input.delete_back
-
-  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, '123456789'
-  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 9
-  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 9
-end
-
-def test_delete_back_empty_value(_args, assert)
-  input = build_text_input('', 0, 0)
-  input.delete_back
-
-  assert.equal! input.value.to_s, ''
-  assert.equal! input.selection_end, 0
-  assert.equal! input.selection_start, 0
-end