diff --git a/include/items.php b/include/items.php
index 610729bbbe..9922c447f0 100644
--- a/include/items.php
+++ b/include/items.php
@@ -264,23 +264,10 @@ function consume_feed($xml, array $importer, array $contact, &$hub, $datedir = 0
 
 	if ($contact['network'] === Protocol::DFRN) {
 		logger("Consume DFRN messages", LOGGER_DEBUG);
-
-		$r = q("SELECT `contact`.*, `contact`.`uid` AS `importer_uid`,
-					`contact`.`pubkey` AS `cpubkey`,
-					`contact`.`prvkey` AS `cprvkey`,
-					`contact`.`thumb` AS `thumb`,
-					`contact`.`url` as `url`,
-					`contact`.`name` as `senderName`,
-					`user`.*
-			FROM `contact`
-			LEFT JOIN `user` ON `contact`.`uid` = `user`.`uid`
-			WHERE `contact`.`id` = %d AND `user`.`uid` = %d",
-			DBA::escape($contact["id"]), DBA::escape($importer["uid"])
-		);
-
-		if (DBA::isResult($r)) {
+		$dfrn_importer = DFRN::getImporter($contact["id"], $importer["uid"]);
+		if (!empty($dfrn_importer)) {
 			logger("Now import the DFRN feed");
-			DFRN::import($xml, $r[0], true);
+			DFRN::import($xml, $dfrn_importer, true);
 			return;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/mod/dfrn_notify.php b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
index d2250720a5..f107e12984 100644
--- a/mod/dfrn_notify.php
+++ b/mod/dfrn_notify.php
@@ -69,53 +69,37 @@ function dfrn_notify_post(App $a) {
 
 	DBA::delete('challenge', ['dfrn-id' => $dfrn_id, 'challenge' => $challenge]);
 
-	// find the local user who owns this relationship.
+	$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', ['uid'], ['nickname' => $a->argv[1]]);
+	if (!DBA::isResult($user)) {
+		logger('User not found for nickname ' . $$a->argv[1]);
+		System::xmlExit(3, 'User not found');
+	}
 
-	$sql_extra = '';
+	// find the local user who owns this relationship.
+	$condition = [];
 	switch ($direction) {
 		case (-1):
-			$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND ( `issued-id` = '%s' OR `dfrn-id` = '%s' ) ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id), DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+			$condition = ["`issued-id` = ? OR `dfrn-id` = ?", $dfrn_id, $dfrn_id];
 			break;
 		case 0:
-			$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND `issued-id` = '%s' AND `duplex` = 1 ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+			$condition = ['issued-id' => $dfrn_id, 'duplex' => true];
 			break;
 		case 1:
-			$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND `dfrn-id` = '%s' AND `duplex` = 1 ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+			$condition = ['dfrn-id' => $dfrn_id, 'duplex' => true];
 			break;
 		default:
 			System::xmlExit(3, 'Invalid direction');
 			break; // NOTREACHED
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * be careful - $importer will contain both the contact information for the contact
-	 * sending us the post, and also the user information for the person receiving it.
-	 * since they are mixed together, it is easy to get them confused.
-	 */
-
-	$r = q("SELECT	`contact`.*, `contact`.`uid` AS `importer_uid`,
-					`contact`.`pubkey` AS `cpubkey`,
-					`contact`.`prvkey` AS `cprvkey`,
-					`contact`.`thumb` AS `thumb`,
-					`contact`.`url` as `url`,
-					`contact`.`name` as `senderName`,
-					`user`.*
-			FROM `contact`
-			LEFT JOIN `user` ON `contact`.`uid` = `user`.`uid`
-			WHERE `contact`.`blocked` = 0 AND `contact`.`pending` = 0
-				AND `user`.`nickname` = '%s' AND `user`.`account_expired` = 0 AND `user`.`account_removed` = 0 $sql_extra LIMIT 1",
-		DBA::escape($a->argv[1])
-	);
-
-	if (!DBA::isResult($r)) {
+	$contact = DBA::selectFirst('contact', ['id'], $condition);
+	if (!DBA::isResult($contact)) {
 		logger('contact not found for dfrn_id ' . $dfrn_id);
 		System::xmlExit(3, 'Contact not found');
-		//NOTREACHED
 	}
 
 	// $importer in this case contains the contact record for the remote contact joined with the user record of our user.
-
-	$importer = $r[0];
+	$importer = DFRN::getImporter($contact['id'], $user['uid']);
 
 	if ((($writable != (-1)) && ($writable != $importer['writable'])) || ($importer['forum'] != $forum) || ($importer['prv'] != $prv)) {
 		$fields = ['writable' => ($writable == (-1)) ? $importer['writable'] : $writable,
@@ -211,23 +195,10 @@ function dfrn_dispatch_public($postdata)
 		System::xmlExit(3, 'Contact ' . $msg['author'] . ' not found');
 	}
 
-	// We now have some contact, so we fetch it
-	$importer = DBA::fetchFirst("SELECT *, `name` as `senderName`,
-					0 AS `importer_uid`,
-					'' AS `uprvkey`,
-					'UTC' AS `timezone`,
-					'' AS `nickname`,
-					'' AS `sprvkey`,
-					'' AS `spubkey`,
-					0 AS `page-flags`,
-					0 AS `account-type`,
-					0 AS `prvnets`
-					FROM `contact`
-					WHERE NOT `blocked` AND `id` = ? LIMIT 1",
-					$contact['id']);
+	$importer = DFRN::getImporter($contact['id']);
 
 	// This should never fail
-	if (!DBA::isResult($importer)) {
+	if (empty($importer)) {
 		logger('Contact not found for address ' . $msg['author']);
 		System::xmlExit(3, 'Contact ' . $msg['author'] . ' not found');
 	}
@@ -257,23 +228,14 @@ function dfrn_dispatch_private($user, $postdata)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// We now have some contact, so we fetch it
-	$importer = DBA::fetchFirst("SELECT *, `name` as `senderName`
-					FROM `contact`
-					WHERE NOT `blocked` AND `id` = ? LIMIT 1",
-					$cid);
+	$importer = DFRN::getImporter($cid, $user['uid']);
 
 	// This should never fail
-	if (!DBA::isResult($importer)) {
+	if (empty($importer)) {
 		logger('Contact not found for address ' . $msg['author']);
 		System::xmlExit(3, 'Contact ' . $msg['author'] . ' not found');
 	}
 
-	// Set the user id. This is important if this is a public contact
-	$importer['importer_uid']  = $user['uid'];
-
-	$importer = array_merge($importer, $user);
-
 	logger('Importing post from ' . $msg['author'] . ' to ' . $user['nickname'] . ' with the private envelope.', LOGGER_DEBUG);
 
 	// Now we should be able to import it
@@ -316,45 +278,53 @@ function dfrn_notify_content(App $a) {
 
 		logger('challenge=' . $hash, LOGGER_DATA);
 
-		$sql_extra = '';
-		switch($direction) {
+		$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', ['uid'], ['nickname' => $a->argv[1]]);
+		if (!DBA::isResult($user)) {
+			logger('User not found for nickname ' . $$a->argv[1]);
+			killme();
+		}
+
+		$condition = [];
+		switch ($direction) {
 			case (-1):
-				$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND (`issued-id` = '%s' OR `dfrn-id` = '%s') ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id), DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+				$condition = ["`issued-id` = ? OR `dfrn-id` = ?", $dfrn_id, $dfrn_id];
 				$my_id = $dfrn_id;
 				break;
 			case 0:
-				$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND `issued-id` = '%s' AND `duplex` = 1 ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+				$condition = ['issued-id' => $dfrn_id, 'duplex' => true];
 				$my_id = '1:' . $dfrn_id;
 				break;
 			case 1:
-				$sql_extra = sprintf(" AND `dfrn-id` = '%s' AND `duplex` = 1 ", DBA::escape($dfrn_id));
+				$condition = ['dfrn-id' => $dfrn_id, 'duplex' => true];
 				$my_id = '0:' . $dfrn_id;
 				break;
 			default:
 				$status = 1;
-				break; // NOTREACHED
+				break;
 		}
 
-		$r = q("SELECT `contact`.*, `user`.`nickname`, `user`.`page-flags` FROM `contact` LEFT JOIN `user` ON `user`.`uid` = `contact`.`uid`
-				WHERE `contact`.`blocked` = 0 AND `contact`.`pending` = 0 AND `user`.`nickname` = '%s'
-				AND `user`.`account_expired` = 0 AND `user`.`account_removed` = 0 $sql_extra LIMIT 1",
-				DBA::escape($a->argv[1])
-		);
+		$contact = DBA::selectFirst('contact', ['id'], $condition);
+		if (!DBA::isResult($contact)) {
+			logger('contact not found for dfrn_id ' . $dfrn_id);
+			System::xmlExit(3, 'Contact not found');
+		}
 
-		if (!DBA::isResult($r)) {
-			logger('No user data found for ' . $a->argv[1] . ' - SQL: ' . $sql_extra);
+		// $importer in this case contains the contact record for the remote contact joined with the user record of our user.
+		$importer = DFRN::getImporter($contact['id'], $user['uid']);
+		if (empty($importer)) {
+			logger('No importer data found for user ' . $a->argv[1] . ' and contact ' . $dfrn_id);
 			killme();
 		}
 
-		logger("Remote rino version: ".$rino_remote." for ".$r[0]["url"], LOGGER_DATA);
+		logger("Remote rino version: ".$rino_remote." for ".$importer["url"], LOGGER_DATA);
 
 		$challenge    = '';
 		$encrypted_id = '';
 		$id_str       = $my_id . '.' . mt_rand(1000,9999);
 
-		$prv_key = trim($r[0]['prvkey']);
-		$pub_key = trim($r[0]['pubkey']);
-		$dplx    = intval($r[0]['duplex']);
+		$prv_key = trim($importer['prvkey']);
+		$pub_key = trim($importer['pubkey']);
+		$dplx    = intval($importer['duplex']);
 
 		if (($dplx && strlen($prv_key)) || (strlen($prv_key) && !strlen($pub_key))) {
 			openssl_private_encrypt($hash, $challenge, $prv_key);
@@ -382,7 +352,7 @@ function dfrn_notify_content(App $a) {
 			$rino = $rino_remote;
 		}
 
-		if (($r[0]['rel'] && ($r[0]['rel'] != Contact::SHARING)) || ($r[0]['page-flags'] == Contact::PAGE_COMMUNITY)) {
+		if (($importer['rel'] && ($importer['rel'] != Contact::SHARING)) || ($importer['page-flags'] == Contact::PAGE_COMMUNITY)) {
 			$perm = 'rw';
 		} else {
 			$perm = 'r';
diff --git a/src/Protocol/DFRN.php b/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
index 31c12405f6..3ba84ac44c 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
@@ -52,6 +52,45 @@ class DFRN
 	const REPLY = 1;		// Regular reply that is stored locally
 	const REPLY_RC = 2;	// Reply that will be relayed
 
+	/**
+	 * @brief Generates an array of contact and user for DFRN imports
+	 *
+	 * This array contains not only the receiver but also the sender of the message.
+	 *
+	 * @param integer $cid Contact id
+	 * @param integer $uid User id
+	 *
+	 * @return array importer
+	 */
+	public static function getImporter($cid, $uid = 0)
+	{
+		$condition = ['id' => $cid, 'blocked' => false, 'pending' => false];
+		$contact = DBA::selectFirst('contact', [], $condition);
+		if (!DBA::isResult($contact)) {
+			return [];
+		}
+
+		$contact['cpubkey'] = $contact['pubkey'];
+		$contact['cprvkey'] = $contact['prvkey'];
+		$contact['senderName'] = $contact['name'];
+
+		if ($uid != 0) {
+			$condition = ['uid' => $uid, 'account_expired' => false, 'account_removed' => false];
+			$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', [], $condition);
+			if (!DBA::isResult($user)) {
+				return [];
+			}
+
+			$user['importer_uid']  = $user['uid'];
+		} else {
+			$user = ['importer_uid' => 0, 'uprvkey' => '', 'timezone' => 'UTC',
+				'nickname' => '', 'sprvkey' => '', 'spubkey' => '',
+				'page-flags' => 0, 'account-type' => 0, 'prvnets' => 0];
+		}
+
+		return array_merge($contact, $user);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @brief Generates the atom entries for delivery.php
 	 *
diff --git a/src/Worker/Delivery.php b/src/Worker/Delivery.php
index f474870153..2dd87e463c 100644
--- a/src/Worker/Delivery.php
+++ b/src/Worker/Delivery.php
@@ -263,29 +263,12 @@ class Delivery extends BaseObject
 				}
 			}
 
-			// We now have some contact, so we fetch it
-			$target_importer = DBA::fetchFirst("SELECT *, `name` as `senderName`
-							FROM `contact`
-							WHERE NOT `blocked` AND `id` = ? LIMIT 1",
-							$cid);
-
-			// This should never fail
-			if (!DBA::isResult($target_importer)) {
+			$target_importer = DFRN::getImporter($cid, $target_uid);
+			if (empty($target_importer)) {
+				// This should never happen
 				return;
 			}
 
-			$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', [], ['uid' => $target_uid]);
-
-			// This should also never fail
-			if (!DBA::isResult($user)) {
-				logger('No user found for uid ' . $target_uid);
-				return;
-			}
-
-			$target_importer = array_merge($target_importer, $user);
-
-			// Set the user id. This is important if this is a public contact
-			$target_importer['importer_uid']  = $target_uid;
 			DFRN::import($atom, $target_importer);
 			return;
 		}