diff --git a/include/identity.php b/include/identity.php
index c18bc3a805..d3852b2c2c 100644
--- a/include/identity.php
+++ b/include/identity.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 require_once('include/ForumManager.php');
 require_once('include/bbcode.php');
 require_once("mod/proxy.php");
+require_once('include/cache.php');
 
 /**
  *
@@ -453,15 +454,21 @@ function get_birthdays() {
 	$bd_format = t('g A l F d') ; // 8 AM Friday January 18
 	$bd_short = t('F d');
 
-	$r = q("SELECT `event`.*, `event`.`id` AS `eid`, `contact`.* FROM `event`
-			INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `event`.`cid`
-			WHERE `event`.`uid` = %d AND `type` = 'birthday' AND `start` < '%s' AND `finish` > '%s'
-			ORDER BY `start` ASC ",
-			intval(local_user()),
-			dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now + 6 days')),
-			dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now'))
-	);
-
+	$cachekey = "get_birthdays:".local_user();
+	$r = Cache::get($cachekey);
+	if (is_null($r)) {
+		$r = q("SELECT `event`.*, `event`.`id` AS `eid`, `contact`.* FROM `event`
+				INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `event`.`cid`
+				WHERE `event`.`uid` = %d AND `type` = 'birthday' AND `start` < '%s' AND `finish` > '%s'
+				ORDER BY `start` ASC ",
+				intval(local_user()),
+				dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now + 6 days')),
+				dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now'))
+		);
+		if (dbm::is_result($r)) {
+			Cache::set($cachekey, $r, CACHE_HOUR);
+		}
+	}
 	if (dbm::is_result($r)) {
 		$total = 0;
 		$now = strtotime('now');
diff --git a/mod/ping.php b/mod/ping.php
index 8b2090cb69..b5330c7b33 100644
--- a/mod/ping.php
+++ b/mod/ping.php
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ function ping_init(App $a)
 			}
 		}
 
-		$cachekey = "ping:events:".local_user();
+		$cachekey = "ping_init:".local_user();
 		$ev = Cache::get($cachekey);
 		if (is_null($ev)) {
 			$ev = qu("SELECT count(`event`.`id`) AS total, type, start, adjust FROM `event`
@@ -206,11 +206,12 @@ function ping_init(App $a)
 				dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC', 'UTC', 'now + 7 days')),
 				dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC', 'UTC', 'now'))
 			);
+			if (dbm::is_result($ev)) {
+				Cache::set($cachekey, $ev, CACHE_HOUR);
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (dbm::is_result($ev)) {
-			Cache::set($cachekey, $ev, CACHE_HOUR);
-
 			$all_events = intval($ev[0]['total']);
 
 			if ($all_events) {