diff --git a/src/Protocol/ActivityPub.php b/src/Protocol/ActivityPub.php
index 0af8ee5e35..23eb861721 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/ActivityPub.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/ActivityPub.php
@@ -63,7 +63,13 @@ class ActivityPub
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		return json_decode($curlResult->getBody(), true);
+		$content = json_decode($curlResult->getBody(), true);
+
+		if (empty($content) || !is_array($content)) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return $content;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/Protocol/ActivityPub/Processor.php b/src/Protocol/ActivityPub/Processor.php
index c481423a67..9bafb5e175 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/ActivityPub/Processor.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/ActivityPub/Processor.php
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ class Processor
 		$activity['cc'] = defaults($object, 'cc', []);
 		$activity['actor'] = $child['author'];
 		$activity['object'] = $object;
-		$activity['published'] = $object['published'];
+		$activity['published'] = defaults($object, 'published', $child['published']);
 		$activity['type'] = 'Create';
 
 		$ldactivity = JsonLD::compact($activity);