diff --git a/srv/cmd/mailinglist-cli/main.go b/srv/cmd/mailinglist-cli/main.go
index a44dadd..c3207df 100644
--- a/srv/cmd/mailinglist-cli/main.go
+++ b/srv/cmd/mailinglist-cli/main.go
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ func main() {
 		mailer = mailinglist.NewMailer(mailerParams)
 	}
 
-	mlStore, err := mailinglist.NewStore(path.Join(*dataDir, "mailinglist.sqlite3"))
+	mailingListDBFile := path.Join(*dataDir, "mailinglist.sqlite3")
+	ctx = mctx.Annotate(ctx, "mailingListDBFile", mailingListDBFile)
+
+	mlStore, err := mailinglist.NewStore(mailingListDBFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Fatal(ctx, "initializing mailing list storage", err)
 	}
@@ -65,7 +68,6 @@ func main() {
 	mlParams.Clock = clock
 
 	ml := mailinglist.New(mlParams)
-	_ = ml
 
 	subCmd := cfg.SubCmd()
 	ctx = mctx.Annotate(ctx, "subCmd", subCmd)
diff --git a/srv/cmd/mediocre-blog/main.go b/srv/cmd/mediocre-blog/main.go
index 7ff3743..4cf3024 100644
--- a/srv/cmd/mediocre-blog/main.go
+++ b/srv/cmd/mediocre-blog/main.go
@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ func main() {
 		mailer = mailinglist.NewMailer(mailerParams)
 	}
 
-	mlStore, err := mailinglist.NewStore(path.Join(*dataDir, "mailinglist.sqlite3"))
+	mailingListDBFile := path.Join(*dataDir, "mailinglist.sqlite3")
+	ctx = mctx.Annotate(ctx, "mailingListDBFile", mailingListDBFile)
+
+	mlStore, err := mailinglist.NewStore(mailingListDBFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Fatal(ctx, "initializing mailing list storage", err)
 	}