diff --git a/include/poller.php b/include/poller.php
index e946dabf60..1a323971f1 100644
--- a/include/poller.php
+++ b/include/poller.php
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ require_once('include/items.php');
 
 	$a->set_baseurl(get_config('system','url'));
 
-	$contacts = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `dfrn-id` != '' AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 AND `readonly` = 0 ORDER BY RAND()");
+	$contacts = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` 
+		WHERE `dfrn-id` != '' AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 
+		AND `readonly` = 0 ORDER BY RAND()");
 
 	if(! count($contacts))
 		killme();
diff --git a/mod/dfrn_notify.php b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
index be0de36e06..2ac98af596 100644
--- a/mod/dfrn_notify.php
+++ b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
@@ -26,19 +26,12 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(&$a) {
 	$r = q("SELECT `contact`.*, `contact`.`uid` AS `importer_uid`, `user`.* FROM `contact` LEFT JOIN `user` ON `contact`.`uid` = `user`.`uid` WHERE `issued-id` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
 		dbesc($dfrn_id)
 	);
+
 	if(! count($r)) {
 		xml_status(3);
 		return; //NOTREACHED
 	}
 
-	// We aren't really interested in anything this person has to say. But be polite and make them 
-	// think we're listening intently by acknowledging receipt of their communications - which we quietly ignore.
-
-	if($r[0]['readonly']) {
-		xml_status(0);
-		return; //NOTREACHED
-	}
-		
 	$importer = $r[0];
 
 	$feed = new SimplePie();
@@ -50,6 +43,14 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(&$a) {
 
 	$rawmail = $feed->get_feed_tags( NAMESPACE_DFRN, 'mail' );
 	if(isset($rawmail[0]['child'][NAMESPACE_DFRN])) {
+
+		if($importer['readonly']) {
+			// We aren't receiving email from this person. But we will quietly ignore them
+			// rather than a blatant "go away" message.
+			xml_status(0);
+			return; //NOTREACHED
+		}
+
 		$ismail = true;
 		$base = $rawmail[0]['child'][NAMESPACE_DFRN];
 
@@ -95,6 +96,12 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(&$a) {
 		return; // NOTREACHED
 	}	
 
+	if($importer['readonly']) {
+
+		xml_status(0);
+		return; // NOTREACHED
+	}
+
 	foreach($feed->get_items() as $item) {
 
 		$deleted = false;
diff --git a/mod/dfrn_poll.php b/mod/dfrn_poll.php
index a4023d1c02..d0b915acf0 100644
--- a/mod/dfrn_poll.php
+++ b/mod/dfrn_poll.php
@@ -167,20 +167,22 @@ function dfrn_poll_content(&$a) {
 
 		$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `issued-id` = '%s' AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 LIMIT 1",
 			dbesc($_GET['dfrn_id']));
-		if((! count($r)) || (! strlen($r[0]['prvkey'])))
-			$status = 1;
+		if((count($r)) && (strlen($r[0]['prvkey']))) {
 
-		$challenge = '';
+			$challenge = '';
 
-		openssl_private_encrypt($hash,$challenge,$r[0]['prvkey']);
-		$challenge = bin2hex($challenge);
+			openssl_private_encrypt($hash,$challenge,$r[0]['prvkey']);
+			$challenge = bin2hex($challenge);
 
-		$encrypted_id = '';
-		$id_str = $_GET['dfrn_id'] . '.' . mt_rand(1000,9999);
-
-		openssl_private_encrypt($id_str,$encrypted_id,$r[0]['prvkey']);
-		$encrypted_id = bin2hex($encrypted_id);
+			$encrypted_id = '';
+			$id_str = $_GET['dfrn_id'] . '.' . mt_rand(1000,9999);
 
+			openssl_private_encrypt($id_str,$encrypted_id,$r[0]['prvkey']);
+			$encrypted_id = bin2hex($encrypted_id);
+		}
+		else {
+			$status = 1;  // key not found
+		}
 
 		echo '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><dfrn_poll><status>' .$status . '</status><dfrn_id>' . $encrypted_id . '</dfrn_id>'
 			. '<challenge>' . $challenge . '</challenge></dfrn_poll>' . "\r\n" ;