diff --git a/gnucash/gnome-utils/dialog-options.cpp b/gnucash/gnome-utils/dialog-options.cpp
index dff8c72897..8a219dc3b3 100644
--- a/gnucash/gnome-utils/dialog-options.cpp
+++ b/gnucash/gnome-utils/dialog-options.cpp
@@ -976,15 +976,16 @@ public:
     void set_ui_item_from_option(GncOption& option) noexcept override
     {
         auto widget{GNC_CURRENCY_EDIT(get_widget())};
-        auto instance{option.get_value<const QofInstance*>()};
-        if (instance)
-            gnc_currency_edit_set_currency(widget, GNC_COMMODITY(instance));
+        auto currency{option.get_value<gnc_commodity*>()};
+
+        if (currency)
+            gnc_currency_edit_set_currency(widget, GNC_COMMODITY(currency));
     }
     void set_option_from_ui_item(GncOption& option) noexcept override
     {
         auto widget{GNC_CURRENCY_EDIT(get_widget())};
         auto currency = gnc_currency_edit_get_currency(widget);
-        option.set_value(qof_instance_cast(currency));
+        option.set_value<gnc_commodity*>(currency);
     }
 };
 
@@ -1016,15 +1017,16 @@ public:
     void set_ui_item_from_option(GncOption& option) noexcept override
     {
         auto widget{GNC_GENERAL_SELECT(get_widget())};
-        auto instance{option.get_value<const QofInstance*>()};
-        if (instance)
-            gnc_general_select_set_selected(widget, GNC_COMMODITY(instance));
+        auto commodity{option.get_value<gnc_commodity*>()};
+
+        if (commodity)
+            gnc_general_select_set_selected(widget, GNC_COMMODITY(commodity));
     }
     void set_option_from_ui_item(GncOption& option) noexcept override
     {
         auto widget{GNC_GENERAL_SELECT(get_widget())};
         auto commodity{gnc_general_select_get_selected(widget)};
-        option.set_value(qof_instance_cast(commodity));
+        option.set_value<gnc_commodity*>(GNC_COMMODITY(commodity));
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-option-impl.cpp b/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-option-impl.cpp
index be976e1223..2b42508caf 100644
--- a/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-option-impl.cpp
+++ b/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-option-impl.cpp
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ GncOptionCommodityValue::reset_default_value()
 bool
 GncOptionCommodityValue::is_changed() const noexcept
 {
-    return m_namespace == m_default_namespace && m_mnemonic == m_default_mnemonic;
+    return m_namespace != m_default_namespace || m_mnemonic != m_default_mnemonic;
 }
 
 bool
diff --git a/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-optiondb.i b/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-optiondb.i
index 1eb7b2b615..b4feefd828 100644
--- a/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-optiondb.i
+++ b/libgnucash/app-utils/gnc-optiondb.i
@@ -1346,8 +1346,7 @@ inline SCM return_scm_value(ValueType value)
                             if (scm_is_string(new_value))
                             {
                                  auto strval{scm_to_utf8_string(new_value)};
-                                 auto val{qof_instance_from_string(strval, option.get_ui_type())};
-                                 option.set_value(GNC_COMMODITY(val));
+                                 option.deserialize(strval);
                                  return;
                             }
                             option.set_value(scm_to_value<gnc_commodity*>(new_value));