diff --git a/database.php b/database.php
index 166f791..32db834 100644
--- a/database.php
+++ b/database.php
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ class mxDatabase
 				. " localpart LIKE '%" . $term . "%';";
 			foreach ($this->db->query($sql) as $row) {
 				array_push($result, [
-					"display_name" => $first_name . " " . $last_name,
+					"display_name" => $row["first_name"] . " " . $row["last_name"],
 					"user_id" => $row["localpart"],
 				]);
 			}
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ class mxDatabase
 				. " email = '" . $term . "';";
 			foreach ($this->db->query($sql) as $row) {
 				array_push($result, [
-					"display_name" => $first_name . " " . $last_name,
+					"display_name" => $row["first_name"] . " " . $row["last_name"],
 					"user_id" => $row["localpart"],
 				]);
 			}
@@ -319,6 +319,10 @@ class mxDatabase
 }
 
 if (!isset($mx_db)) {
-	$mx_db = new mxDatabase($config["databaseURI"], $config["databaseUser"], $config["databasePass"]);
+	if (isset($config["databaseUser"]) && isset($config["databasePass"])) {
+		$mx_db = new mxDatabase($config["databaseURI"], $config["databaseUser"], $config["databasePass"]);
+	} else {
+		$mx_db = new mxDatabase($config["databaseURI"]);
+	}
 }
 ?>
diff --git a/internal/directory_lookup.php b/internal/directory_lookup.php
index 7a44128..c044c83 100644
--- a/internal/directory_lookup.php
+++ b/internal/directory_lookup.php
@@ -8,8 +8,11 @@ $response=[
 try {
     $inputJSON = file_get_contents('php://input');
     $input = json_decode($inputJSON, TRUE);
+    if (empty($input)) {
+	    throw new Exception('no valid json as input present');
+    }
     if (!isset($input["by"])) {
-        throw new Exception('"id" is not defined');
+        throw new Exception('"by" is not defined');
     }
     if (!isset($input["search_term"])) {
         throw new Exception('"search_term" is not defined');
@@ -30,4 +33,4 @@ try {
     $response["error"] = $e->getMessage();
 }
 print (json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT) . "\n");
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/internal/identity_bulk.php b/internal/identity_bulk.php
index f4b5840..0a2feff 100644
--- a/internal/identity_bulk.php
+++ b/internal/identity_bulk.php
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ try {
         $res2 = array();
         switch ($lookup["medium"]) {
             case "email":
-                $res2 = $mx_db->searchUserByEmail($input["lookup"]["address"]);
+                $res2 = $mx_db->searchUserByEmail($lookup["address"]);
                 if (!empty($res2)) {
                     array_push($response["lookup"], [
                             "medium" => $lookup["medium"],
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ try {
                         ]
                     );
                 }
+		break;
             case "msisdn":
                 error_log("sb requested a bulk lookup for msisdn");
                 break;
@@ -46,4 +47,4 @@ try {
     $response["error"] = $e->getMessage();
 }
 print (json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT) . "\n");
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/internal/identity_single.php b/internal/identity_single.php
index 0268660..404f019 100644
--- a/internal/identity_single.php
+++ b/internal/identity_single.php
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 <?php
 require_once("../database.php");
-$response = array();
+$response = new stdClass;
 try {
     $inputJSON = file_get_contents('php://input');
     $input = json_decode($inputJSON, TRUE);
+    if (empty($input)) {
+	    throw new Exception('no valid json as input present');
+    }
     if (!isset($input["lookup"])) {
         throw new Exception('"lookup" is not defined');
     }
@@ -40,4 +43,4 @@ try {
     $response["error"] = $e->getMessage();
 }
 print (json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT) . "\n");
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>