diff --git a/applications/test/checkDecomposePar/Test-checkDecomposePar.C b/applications/test/checkDecomposePar/Test-checkDecomposePar.C
index 49eed5ed13..a34d695b86 100644
--- a/applications/test/checkDecomposePar/Test-checkDecomposePar.C
+++ b/applications/test/checkDecomposePar/Test-checkDecomposePar.C
@@ -108,16 +108,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
     else
     {
-        word regionName;
-        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionName))
+        regionNames.resize(1, fvMesh::defaultRegion);
+        regionDirs.resize(1, word::null);
+
+        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionNames.first()))
         {
-            regionNames = wordList(1, regionName);
-            regionDirs = regionNames;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            regionNames = wordList(1, fvMesh::defaultRegion);
-            regionDirs = wordList(1, word::null);
+            regionDirs.first() = regionNames.first();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/applications/test/decomposePar/Test-decomposePar.C b/applications/test/decomposePar/Test-decomposePar.C
index 8026319c17..96d9f3726a 100644
--- a/applications/test/decomposePar/Test-decomposePar.C
+++ b/applications/test/decomposePar/Test-decomposePar.C
@@ -146,16 +146,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
     else
     {
-        word regionName;
-        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionName))
+        regionNames.resize(1, fvMesh::defaultRegion);
+        regionDirs.resize(1, word::null);
+
+        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionNames.first()))
         {
-            regionNames = wordList(1, regionName);
-            regionDirs = regionNames;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            regionNames = wordList(1, fvMesh::defaultRegion);
-            regionDirs = wordList(1, word::null);
+            regionDirs.first() = regionNames.first();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/decomposePar/decomposePar.C b/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/decomposePar/decomposePar.C
index f2fa418280..1626063681 100644
--- a/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/decomposePar/decomposePar.C
+++ b/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/decomposePar/decomposePar.C
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     argList::addBoolOption
     (
         "copyZero",
-        "Copy \a 0 directory to processor* rather than decompose the fields"
+        "Copy a 0 directory to processor* rather than decompose the fields"
     );
     argList::addBoolOption
     (
@@ -318,15 +318,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
     else
     {
-        regionNames = {fvMesh::defaultRegion};
-        args.readIfPresent("region", regionNames[0]);
+        regionNames.resize(1);
+        regionNames.first() =
+            args.lookupOrDefault<word>("region", fvMesh::defaultRegion);
     }
 
     forAll(regionNames, regioni)
     {
         const word& regionName = regionNames[regioni];
         const word& regionDir =
-            regionName == fvMesh::defaultRegion ? word::null : regionName;
+            (regionName == fvMesh::defaultRegion ? word::null : regionName);
 
         Info<< "\n\nDecomposing mesh " << regionName << nl << endl;
 
diff --git a/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/reconstructPar/reconstructPar.C b/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/reconstructPar/reconstructPar.C
index 0e653aae20..8a6c49fee7 100644
--- a/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/reconstructPar/reconstructPar.C
+++ b/applications/utilities/parallelProcessing/reconstructPar/reconstructPar.C
@@ -194,14 +194,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
     else
     {
-        regionNames = {fvMesh::defaultRegion};
-        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionNames[0]))
+        regionNames.resize(1, fvMesh::defaultRegion);
+        regionDirs.resize(1, word::null);
+
+        if (args.readIfPresent("region", regionNames.first()))
         {
-            regionDirs = regionNames;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            regionDirs = {word::null};
+            regionDirs.first() = regionNames.first();
         }
     }