It seems like org-refile with the goto argument is no longer allowed From non org-mode buffers. In commit 49da67d the condition was changed from: (unless goto ...) to: (unless (and goto (listp goto)) ...) where the condition of unless is only true for non-empty lists. IMO the condition has to be: (unless (or goto (listp goto)) ...) (replace and with or) due to the `unless`, so that either t or '(.....) is checked. This patch allows org-refile with the goto flag from outside org-buffers (again). Patch is attached. Best, Markus