diff --git a/plinth/tests/test_utils.py b/plinth/tests/test_utils.py
index 0ad26c3b7..ac87f1624 100644
--- a/plinth/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/plinth/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -149,6 +149,14 @@ class TestYAMLFileUtil:
         'key1': 'value1'
     }), '20 10 value1'),
     (('{2} {1} {key1}', [10, 20], {}), '?2? 20 ?key1?'),
+    (('{a[2]}', [], {
+        'a': [1, 2, 3]
+    }), '3'),
+    (('{a[b]}', [], {
+        'a': []
+    }), '?a[b]?'),
+    (('{a["b"]}', [], {}), '?a["b"]?'),
+    (('{a.b}', [], {}), '?a.b?'),
 ))
 def test_safe_string_formatter(input_, output):
     """Test the safe string formatter."""
diff --git a/plinth/utils.py b/plinth/utils.py
index 239da8b37..565dbc09f 100644
--- a/plinth/utils.py
+++ b/plinth/utils.py
@@ -180,8 +180,15 @@ class SafeFormatter(string.Formatter):
     """A string.format() handler to deal with missing arguments."""
 
     def get_value(self, key, args, kwargs):
-        """Retrieve a given field value."""
+        """Retrieve a given field's value: 0 or foo."""
         try:
             return super().get_value(key, args, kwargs)
         except (IndexError, KeyError):
             return f'?{key}?'
+
+    def get_field(self, field_name, args, kwargs):
+        """Retrieve a given field's value: 0[foo] or foo.bar."""
+        try:
+            return super().get_field(field_name, args, kwargs)
+        except (AttributeError, TypeError):
+            return (f'?{field_name}?', '')