diff --git a/include/api.php b/include/api.php
index 123a4b9cfe..1de9bfdbde 100644
--- a/include/api.php
+++ b/include/api.php
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@
 		// count friends
 		$r = q("SELECT count(*) as `count` FROM `contact`
 				WHERE  `uid` = %d AND `rel` IN ( %d, %d )
-				AND `self`=0 AND `blocked`=0 AND `pending`=0 AND `hidden`=0",
+				AND `self`=0 AND `blocked`=0 AND `hidden`=0",
 				intval($uinfo[0]['uid']),
 				intval(CONTACT_IS_SHARING),
 				intval(CONTACT_IS_FRIEND)
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@
 
 		$r = q("SELECT count(*) as `count` FROM `contact`
 				WHERE  `uid` = %d AND `rel` IN ( %d, %d )
-				AND `self`=0 AND `blocked`=0 AND `pending`=0 AND `hidden`=0",
+				AND `self`=0 AND `blocked`=0 AND `hidden`=0",
 				intval($uinfo[0]['uid']),
 				intval(CONTACT_IS_FOLLOWER),
 				intval(CONTACT_IS_FRIEND)
@@ -1399,7 +1399,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item`
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`uid` = %d AND `verb` = '%s'
 			AND `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
 			$sql_extra
@@ -1476,7 +1476,7 @@
 			`user`.`nickname`, `user`.`hidewall`
 			FROM `item`
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `user` ON `user`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
 				AND NOT `user`.`hidewall`
 			WHERE `verb` = '%s' AND `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`deleted` AND NOT `item`.`moderated`
@@ -1543,7 +1543,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item`
 			INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
 			AND `item`.`uid` = %d AND `item`.`verb` = '%s'
 			$sql_extra",
@@ -1619,7 +1619,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item`
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`parent` = %d AND `item`.`visible`
 			AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
 			AND `item`.`uid` = %d AND `item`.`verb` = '%s'
@@ -1673,7 +1673,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item`
 			INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
 			AND NOT `item`.`private` AND `item`.`allow_cid` = '' AND `item`.`allow`.`gid` = ''
 			AND `item`.`deny_cid` = '' AND `item`.`deny_gid` = ''
@@ -1792,7 +1792,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item` FORCE INDEX (`uid_id`)
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`uid` = %d AND `verb` = '%s'
 			AND NOT (`item`.`author-link` IN ('https://%s', 'http://%s'))
 			AND `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
@@ -1866,7 +1866,7 @@
 			`contact`.`id` AS `cid`
 			FROM `item` FORCE INDEX (`uid_contactid_id`)
 			STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND `contact`.`uid` = `item`.`uid`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 			WHERE `item`.`uid` = %d AND `verb` = '%s'
 			AND `item`.`contact-id` = %d
 			AND `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND NOT `item`.`deleted`
@@ -2002,7 +2002,7 @@
 				AND `item`.`visible` = 1 and `item`.`moderated` = 0 AND `item`.`deleted` = 0
 				AND `item`.`starred` = 1
 				AND `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id`
-				AND `contact`.`blocked` = 0 AND `contact`.`pending` = 0
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 				$sql_extra
 				AND `item`.`id`>%d
 				ORDER BY `item`.`id` DESC LIMIT %d ,%d ",
@@ -2648,7 +2648,7 @@
 		if ($user_info['self'] == 0)
 			$sql_extra = " AND false ";
 
-		$r = q("SELECT `nurl` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 $sql_extra",
+		$r = q("SELECT `nurl` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `self` AND NOT `blocked` $sql_extra",
 			intval(api_user())
 		);
 
diff --git a/include/conversation.php b/include/conversation.php
index eba2abdd41..434a2eb858 100644
--- a/include/conversation.php
+++ b/include/conversation.php
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ These Fields are not added below (yet). They are here to for bug search.
 function item_joins() {
 
 	return "STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id` AND
-		NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+		NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 		LEFT JOIN `contact` AS `author` ON `author`.`id`=`item`.`author-id`
 		LEFT JOIN `contact` AS `owner` ON `owner`.`id`=`item`.`owner-id`";
 }
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ function best_link_url($item,&$sparkle,$ssl_state = false) {
 	$clean_url = normalise_link($item['author-link']);
 
 	if (local_user()) {
-		$r = q("SELECT `id` FROM `contact` WHERE `network` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d AND `nurl` = '%s' AND NOT `pending` LIMIT 1",
+		$r = q("SELECT `id` FROM `contact` WHERE `network` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d AND `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
 			dbesc(NETWORK_DFRN), intval(local_user()), dbesc(normalise_link($clean_url)));
 		if ($r) {
 			$best_url = 'redir/'.$r[0]['id'];
diff --git a/include/dfrn.php b/include/dfrn.php
index e048e66085..67cef59d95 100644
--- a/include/dfrn.php
+++ b/include/dfrn.php
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class dfrn {
 					break; // NOTREACHED
 			}
 
-			$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `contact`.`uid` = %d $sql_extra LIMIT 1",
+			$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE NOT `blocked` AND `contact`.`uid` = %d $sql_extra LIMIT 1",
 				intval($owner_id)
 			);
 
diff --git a/include/identity.php b/include/identity.php
index a30d81cf3a..288f93aaf9 100644
--- a/include/identity.php
+++ b/include/identity.php
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ function profile_sidebar($profile, $block = 0) {
 			if(count($r))
 				$updated =  date("c", strtotime($r[0]['updated']));
 
-			$r = q("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
+			$r = q("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `self` AND NOT `blocked` AND NOT `hidden` AND NOT `archive`
 					AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s', '')",
 				intval($profile['uid']),
 				dbesc(NETWORK_DFRN),
diff --git a/include/text.php b/include/text.php
index 83eab19270..63e583d69f 100644
--- a/include/text.php
+++ b/include/text.php
@@ -874,8 +874,8 @@ function contact_block() {
 	if((! is_array($a->profile)) || ($a->profile['hide-friends']))
 		return $o;
 	$r = q("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total` FROM `contact`
-			WHERE `uid` = %d AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 and `pending` = 0
-				AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
+			WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `self` AND NOT `blocked`
+				AND NOT `hidden` AND NOT `archive`
 				AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s')",
 			intval($a->profile['uid']),
 			dbesc(NETWORK_DFRN),
@@ -892,7 +892,7 @@ function contact_block() {
 	} else {
 		// Splitting the query in two parts makes it much faster
 		$r = q("SELECT `id` FROM `contact`
-				WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `self` AND NOT `blocked` AND NOT `pending`
+				WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `self` AND NOT `blocked`
 					AND NOT `hidden` AND NOT `archive`
 				AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s') ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT %d",
 				intval($a->profile['uid']),
diff --git a/mod/network.php b/mod/network.php
index 10a1901952..d522598f5a 100644
--- a/mod/network.php
+++ b/mod/network.php
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ function network_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 	elseif($cid) {
 
 		$r = qu("SELECT `id`,`name`,`network`,`writable`,`nurl`, `forum`, `prv`, `contact-type`, `addr`, `thumb`, `location` FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d
-				AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 LIMIT 1",
+				AND NOT `blocked` LIMIT 1",
 			intval($cid)
 		);
 		if(count($r)) {
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ function network_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 		if(get_config('system', 'old_pager')) {
 			$r = qu("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total`
 				FROM $sql_table $sql_post_table INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = $sql_table.`contact-id`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 				WHERE $sql_table.`uid` = %d AND $sql_table.`visible` AND NOT $sql_table.`deleted`
 				$sql_extra2 $sql_extra3
 				$sql_extra $sql_nets ",
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ function network_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 
 			$r = qu("SELECT `item`.`parent` AS `item_id`, `item`.`network` AS `item_network`, `contact`.`uid` AS `contact_uid`
 				FROM $sql_table $sql_post_table INNER JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `item`.`contact-id`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 				WHERE `item`.`uid` = %d AND `item`.`visible` AND NOT `item`.`deleted` $sql_extra4
 				AND NOT `item`.`moderated` AND `item`.`unseen`
 				$sql_extra3 $sql_extra $sql_nets
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ function network_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 		} else {
 			$r = qu("SELECT `thread`.`iid` AS `item_id`, `thread`.`network` AS `item_network`, `contact`.`uid` AS `contact_uid`
 				FROM $sql_table $sql_post_table STRAIGHT_JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`id` = `thread`.`contact-id`
-				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked` AND NOT `contact`.`pending`
+				AND NOT `contact`.`blocked`
 				WHERE `thread`.`uid` = %d AND `thread`.`visible` AND NOT `thread`.`deleted`
 				AND NOT `thread`.`moderated`
 				$sql_extra2 $sql_extra3 $sql_extra $sql_nets
diff --git a/mod/viewcontacts.php b/mod/viewcontacts.php
index 19dd8b7f95..6fb3b37fd5 100644
--- a/mod/viewcontacts.php
+++ b/mod/viewcontacts.php
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ function viewcontacts_content(&$a) {
 	}
 
 	$r = q("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total` FROM `contact`
-		WHERE `uid` = %d AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
+		WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `blocked` AND NOT `hidden` AND NOT `archive`
 			AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s')",
 		intval($a->profile['uid']),
 		dbesc(NETWORK_DFRN),
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ function viewcontacts_content(&$a) {
 		$a->set_pager_total($r[0]['total']);
 
 	$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact`
-		WHERE `uid` = %d AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
+		WHERE `uid` = %d AND NOT `blocked` AND NOT `hidden` AND NOT `archive`
 			AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s')
 		ORDER BY `name` ASC LIMIT %d, %d",
 		intval($a->profile['uid']),