diff --git a/src/_pytest/terminal.py b/src/_pytest/terminal.py
index 4cb617c7a..59538d45c 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/terminal.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/terminal.py
@@ -165,15 +165,14 @@ def getreportopt(config):
         reportchars += "w"
     elif config.option.disable_warnings and "w" in reportchars:
         reportchars = reportchars.replace("w", "")
-    if reportchars:
-        for char in reportchars:
-            if char == "a":
-                reportopts = "sxXwEf"
-            elif char == "A":
-                reportopts = "sxXwEfpP"
-                break
-            elif char not in reportopts:
-                reportopts += char
+    for char in reportchars:
+        if char == "a":
+            reportopts = "sxXwEf"
+        elif char == "A":
+            reportopts = "sxXwEfpP"
+            break
+        elif char not in reportopts:
+            reportopts += char
     return reportopts
 
 
@@ -855,10 +854,8 @@ class TerminalReporter(object):
                 msg = self._getfailureheadline(rep)
                 if rep.when == "collect":
                     msg = "ERROR collecting " + msg
-                elif rep.when == "setup":
-                    msg = "ERROR at setup of " + msg
-                elif rep.when == "teardown":
-                    msg = "ERROR at teardown of " + msg
+                else:
+                    msg = "ERROR at %s of %s" % (rep.when, msg)
                 self.write_sep("_", msg, red=True, bold=True)
                 self._outrep_summary(rep)