diff --git a/cmd/gotext/main.go b/cmd/gotext/main.go
index ed0f7eca..5171eb15 100644
--- a/cmd/gotext/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gotext/main.go
@@ -48,11 +48,18 @@ func config() (*pipeline.Config, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, wrap(err, "invalid srclang")
 	}
+
+	// Use a default value since rewrite and extract don't have an out flag.
+	genFile := ""
+	if out != nil {
+		genFile = *out
+	}
+
 	return &pipeline.Config{
 		SourceLanguage:      tag,
 		Supported:           getLangs(),
 		TranslationsPattern: `messages\.(.*)\.json$`,
-		GenFile:             *out,
+		GenFile:             genFile,
 		Dir:                 *dir,
 	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index ff064ec7..b49ccc63 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ module golang.org/x/text
 
 go 1.18
 
-require golang.org/x/tools v0.6.0 // tagx:ignore
+require golang.org/x/tools v0.21.1-0.20240508182429-e35e4ccd0d2d // tagx:ignore
 
-require (
-	golang.org/x/mod v0.8.0 // indirect; tagx:ignore
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.5.0 // indirect; tagx:ignore
-)
+require golang.org/x/mod v0.17.0 // indirect; tagx:ignore
+
+require golang.org/x/sync v0.7.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 44d387ef..d046f937 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-golang.org/x/mod v0.8.0 h1:LUYupSeNrTNCGzR/hVBk2NHZO4hXcVaW1k4Qx7rjPx8=
-golang.org/x/mod v0.8.0/go.mod h1:iBbtSCu2XBx23ZKBPSOrRkjjQPZFPuis4dIYUhu/chs=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.1.0 h1:wsuoTGHzEhffawBOhz5CYhcrV4IdKZbEyZjBMuTp12o=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.5.0 h1:MUK/U/4lj1t1oPg0HfuXDN/Z1wv31ZJ/YcPiGccS4DU=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.5.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.6.0 h1:BOw41kyTf3PuCW1pVQf8+Cyg8pMlkYB1oo9iJ6D/lKM=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.6.0/go.mod h1:Xwgl3UAJ/d3gWutnCtw505GrjyAbvKui8lOU390QaIU=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.17.0 h1:zY54UmvipHiNd+pm+m0x9KhZ9hl1/7QNMyxXbc6ICqA=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.17.0/go.mod h1:hTbmBsO62+eylJbnUtE2MGJUyE7QWk4xUqPFrRgJ+7c=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.7.0 h1:YsImfSBoP9QPYL0xyKJPq0gcaJdG3rInoqxTWbfQu9M=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.7.0/go.mod h1:Czt+wKu1gCyEFDUtn0jG5QVvpJ6rzVqr5aXyt9drQfk=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.21.1-0.20240508182429-e35e4ccd0d2d h1:vU5i/LfpvrRCpgM/VPfJLg5KjxD3E+hfT1SH+d9zLwg=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.21.1-0.20240508182429-e35e4ccd0d2d/go.mod h1:aiJjzUbINMkxbQROHiO6hDPo2LHcIPhhQsa9DLh0yGk=
diff --git a/message/message.go b/message/message.go
index 48d76630..91a97264 100644
--- a/message/message.go
+++ b/message/message.go
@@ -138,21 +138,20 @@ func (p *Printer) Printf(key Reference, a ...interface{}) (n int, err error) {
 
 func lookupAndFormat(p *printer, r Reference, a []interface{}) {
 	p.fmt.Reset(a)
-	var id, msg string
 	switch v := r.(type) {
 	case string:
-		id, msg = v, v
+		if p.catContext.Execute(v) == catalog.ErrNotFound {
+			p.Render(v)
+			return
+		}
 	case key:
-		id, msg = v.id, v.fallback
-	default:
-		panic("key argument is not a Reference")
-	}
-
-	if p.catContext.Execute(id) == catalog.ErrNotFound {
-		if p.catContext.Execute(msg) == catalog.ErrNotFound {
-			p.Render(msg)
+		if p.catContext.Execute(v.id) == catalog.ErrNotFound &&
+			p.catContext.Execute(v.fallback) == catalog.ErrNotFound {
+			p.Render(v.fallback)
 			return
 		}
+	default:
+		panic("key argument is not a Reference")
 	}
 }