diff --git a/include/items.php b/include/items.php
index 45d8b62c0b..0c9d4cfc2e 100644
--- a/include/items.php
+++ b/include/items.php
@@ -688,11 +688,12 @@ function item_store($arr,$force_parent = false) {
 				$arr['parent-uri'] = $r[0]['parent-uri'];
 			}
 
-			$parent_id = $r[0]['id'];
-			$allow_cid = $r[0]['allow_cid'];
-			$allow_gid = $r[0]['allow_gid'];
-			$deny_cid  = $r[0]['deny_cid'];
-			$deny_gid  = $r[0]['deny_gid'];
+			$parent_id      = $r[0]['id'];
+			$parent_deleted = $r[0]['deleted'];
+			$allow_cid      = $r[0]['allow_cid'];
+			$allow_gid      = $r[0]['allow_gid'];
+			$deny_cid       = $r[0]['deny_cid'];
+			$deny_gid       = $r[0]['deny_gid'];
 		}
 		else {
 
@@ -750,13 +751,14 @@ function item_store($arr,$force_parent = false) {
 	// Set parent id - and also make sure to inherit the parent's ACL's.
 
 	$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `parent` = %d, `allow_cid` = '%s', `allow_gid` = '%s',
-		`deny_cid` = '%s', `deny_gid` = '%s', `private` = %d WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
+		`deny_cid` = '%s', `deny_gid` = '%s', `private` = %d, `deleted` = $d WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
 		intval($parent_id),
 		dbesc($allow_cid),
 		dbesc($allow_gid),
 		dbesc($deny_cid),
 		dbesc($deny_gid),
 		intval($private),
+		intval($parent_deleted),
 		intval($current_post)
 	);
 
diff --git a/include/notifier.php b/include/notifier.php
index 8442349cfd..a71da853db 100644
--- a/include/notifier.php
+++ b/include/notifier.php
@@ -2,18 +2,18 @@
 require_once("boot.php");
 
 function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
-  global $a, $db;
+	global $a, $db;
 
-  if(is_null($a)){
-    $a = new App;
-  }
+	if(is_null($a)){
+		$a = new App;
+	}
   
-  if(is_null($db)){
-    @include(".htconfig.php");
-    require_once("dba.php");
-    $db = new dba($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
-    unset($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
-  };
+	if(is_null($db)) {
+		@include(".htconfig.php");
+		require_once("dba.php");
+		$db = new dba($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+		        unset($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+	}
 
 	require_once("session.php");
 	require_once("datetime.php");
@@ -62,11 +62,12 @@ function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
 		$r = q("SELECT `parent`, `uid`, `edited` FROM `item` WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
 			intval($item_id)
 		);
-		if(! count($r)){
+
+		if((! count($r)) || (! intval($r[0]['parent']))) {
 			return;
 		}
-  
-		$parent_id = $r[0]['parent'];
+
+		$parent_id = intval($r[0]['parent']);
 		$uid = $r[0]['uid'];
 		$updated = $r[0]['edited'];
 
@@ -77,6 +78,13 @@ function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
 		if(! count($items)){
 			return;
 		}
+
+		// avoid race condition with deleting entries
+
+		if($items[0]['deleted']) {
+			foreach($items as $item)
+				$item['deleted'] = 1;
+
 	}
 
 	$r = q("SELECT `contact`.*, `user`.`nickname`, `user`.`sprvkey`, `user`.`spubkey`, `user`.`page-flags` 
@@ -122,8 +130,8 @@ function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
 
 			$allow_people = expand_acl($parent['allow_cid']);
 			$allow_groups = expand_groups(expand_acl($parent['allow_gid']));
-			$deny_people = expand_acl($parent['deny_cid']);
-			$deny_groups = expand_groups(expand_acl($parent['deny_gid']));
+			$deny_people  = expand_acl($parent['deny_cid']);
+			$deny_groups  = expand_groups(expand_acl($parent['deny_gid']));
 
 			$conversants = array();
 
@@ -220,6 +228,8 @@ function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
 	else {
 		if($followup) {
 			foreach($items as $item) {  // there is only one item
+				if(! $item['parent'])
+					continue;
 				if($item['id'] == $item_id) {
 					logger('notifier: followup: item: ' . print_r($item,true), LOGGER_DATA);
 					$slap  = atom_entry($item,'html',$owner,$owner,false);
@@ -229,6 +239,9 @@ function notifier_run($argv, $argc){
 		}
 		else {
 			foreach($items as $item) {
+				if(! $item['parent'])
+					continue;
+
 				$contact = get_item_contact($item,$contacts);
 				if(! $contact)
 					continue;
diff --git a/mod/dfrn_notify.php b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
index 7f023ef222..142d132845 100644
--- a/mod/dfrn_notify.php
+++ b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
@@ -289,54 +289,58 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(&$a) {
 					$datarray['last-child'] = 0;
 				}
 				$posted_id = item_store($datarray);
+				$parent = 0;
 
 				if($posted_id) {
+					$r = q("SELECT `parent` FROM `item` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+						intval($posted_id),
+						intval($importer['importer_uid'])
+					);
+					if(count($r))
+						$parent = $r[0]['parent'];
+				
 					if(! $is_like) {
-						$r = q("SELECT `parent` FROM `item` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
-							intval($posted_id),
-							intval($importer['importer_uid'])
+						$r1 = q("UPDATE `item` SET `last-child` = 0, `changed` = '%s' WHERE `uid` = %d AND `parent` = %d",
+							dbesc(datetime_convert()),
+							intval($importer['importer_uid']),
+							intval($r[0]['parent'])
 						);
-						if(count($r)) {
-							$r1 = q("UPDATE `item` SET `last-child` = 0, `changed` = '%s' WHERE `uid` = %d AND `parent` = %d",
-								dbesc(datetime_convert()),
-								intval($importer['importer_uid']),
-								intval($r[0]['parent'])
-							);
-						}
+
 						$r2 = q("UPDATE `item` SET `last-child` = 1, `changed` = '%s' WHERE `uid` = %d AND `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
-								dbesc(datetime_convert()),
-								intval($importer['importer_uid']),
-								intval($posted_id)
+							dbesc(datetime_convert()),
+							intval($importer['importer_uid']),
+							intval($posted_id)
 						);
 					}
 
-					$php_path = ((strlen($a->config['php_path'])) ? $a->config['php_path'] : 'php');
+					if($posted_id && $parent) {
+				
+						$php_path = ((strlen($a->config['php_path'])) ? $a->config['php_path'] : 'php');
 
-					//proc_close(proc_open("\"$php_path\" \"include/notifier.php\" \"comment-import\" \"$posted_id\" &", array(),$foo));
-					proc_run($php_path,"include/notifier.php","comment-import","$posted_id");
+						proc_run($php_path,"include/notifier.php","comment-import","$posted_id");
 					
-					if((! $is_like) && ($importer['notify-flags'] & NOTIFY_COMMENT) && (! $importer['self'])) {
-						require_once('bbcode.php');
-						$from = stripslashes($datarray['author-name']);
-						$tpl = load_view_file('view/cmnt_received_eml.tpl');			
-						$email_tpl = replace_macros($tpl, array(
-							'$sitename' => $a->config['sitename'],
-							'$siteurl' =>  $a->get_baseurl(),
-							'$username' => $importer['username'],
-							'$email' => $importer['email'],
-							'$display' => $a->get_baseurl() . '/display/' . $importer['nickname'] . '/' . $posted_id, 
-							'$from' => $from,
-							'$body' => strip_tags(bbcode(stripslashes($datarray['body'])))
-						));
-	
-						$res = mail($importer['email'], $from . t(' commented on an item at ') . $a->config['sitename'],
-							$email_tpl, "From: " . t('Administrator') . '@' . $a->get_hostname() );
+						if((! $is_like) && ($importer['notify-flags'] & NOTIFY_COMMENT) && (! $importer['self'])) {
+							require_once('bbcode.php');
+							$from = stripslashes($datarray['author-name']);
+							$tpl = load_view_file('view/cmnt_received_eml.tpl');			
+							$email_tpl = replace_macros($tpl, array(
+								'$sitename' => $a->config['sitename'],
+								'$siteurl' =>  $a->get_baseurl(),
+								'$username' => $importer['username'],
+								'$email' => $importer['email'],
+								'$display' => $a->get_baseurl() . '/display/' . $importer['nickname'] . '/' . $posted_id, 
+								'$from' => $from,
+								'$body' => strip_tags(bbcode(stripslashes($datarray['body'])))
+							));
+		
+							$res = mail($importer['email'], $from . t(' commented on an item at ') . $a->config['sitename'],
+								$email_tpl, "From: " . t('Administrator') . '@' . $a->get_hostname() );
+						}
 					}
+
+					xml_status(0);
+					// NOTREACHED
 				}
-
-				xml_status(0);
-				// NOTREACHED
-
 			}
 			else {
 				// regular comment that is part of this total conversation. Have we seen it? If not, import it.
@@ -375,13 +379,13 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(&$a) {
 			
 				if(($datarray['type'] != 'activity') && ($importer['notify-flags'] & NOTIFY_COMMENT)) {
 
-					$myconv = q("SELECT `author-link` FROM `item` WHERE `parent-uri` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d",
+					$myconv = q("SELECT `author-link` FROM `item` WHERE `parent-uri` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d AND `parent` != 0 ",
 						dbesc($parent_uri),
 						intval($importer['importer_uid'])
 					);
 					if(count($myconv)) {
 						foreach($myconv as $conv) {
-							if($conv['author-link'] != $importer['url'])
+							if(! link_compare($conv['author-link'],$importer['url']))
 								continue;
 							require_once('bbcode.php');
 							$from = stripslashes($datarray['author-name']);