diff --git a/csl/core/engine.lua b/csl/core/engine.lua
index 6800c9412..8ad4f4736 100644
--- a/csl/core/engine.lua
+++ b/csl/core/engine.lua
@@ -380,13 +380,14 @@ function CslEngine:_layout (options, content, entries)
    if options.delimiter then
       return self:_render_delimiter(output, options.delimiter)
    end
-   -- (Normally citations have a delimiter options)
-   local delim = self.mode == "citation" and ", " or "<par/>"
+   -- (Normally citations have a delimiter options, so we should only reach
+   -- this point for the bibliography)
+   local delim = self.mode == "citation" and "; " or "<par/>"
    -- references all belong to a different paragraph
    -- FIXME: should account for attributes on the toplevel bibliography element:
    --   line-spacing
    --   hanging-indent
-   return table.concat(output, "<par/>")
+   return table.concat(output, delim)
 end
 
 function CslEngine:_text (options, content, entry)
@@ -1215,7 +1216,7 @@ end
 -- @tparam table entry List of CSL entries
 -- @treturn string The XML citation string
 function CslEngine:cite (entries)
-   local entries = type(entries) == "table" and not entries.type and entries or { entries }
+   entries = type(entries) == "table" and not entries.type and entries or { entries }
    return self:_process(entries, "citation")
 end
 
@@ -1223,7 +1224,7 @@ end
 -- @tparam table entry List of CSL entries
 -- @treturn string The XML reference string
 function CslEngine:reference (entries)
-   local entries = type(entries) == "table" and not entries.type and entries or { entries }
+   entries = type(entries) == "table" and not entries.type and entries or { entries }
    return self:_process(entries, "bibliography")
 end