diff --git a/src/Model/Item.php b/src/Model/Item.php
index 05254b8eb..f10c20936 100644
--- a/src/Model/Item.php
+++ b/src/Model/Item.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class Item extends BaseObject
 			'attach', 'tag', 'bookmark', 'deleted', 'extid',
 			'allow_cid', 'allow_gid', 'deny_cid', 'deny_gid',
 			'author-id', 'author-link', 'owner-link', 'contact-uid',
-			'signed_text', 'signature', 'signer'];
+			'signed_text', 'signature', 'signer', 'network'];
 
 	// Field list for "item-content" table that is mixed with the item table
 	const MIXED_CONTENT_FIELDLIST = ['title', 'content-warning', 'body', 'location',
diff --git a/src/Protocol/DFRN.php b/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
index 6525601fe..ddbda750b 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/DFRN.php
@@ -1534,8 +1534,8 @@ class DFRN
 	private static function fetchauthor($xpath, $context, $importer, $element, $onlyfetch, $xml = "")
 	{
 		$author = [];
-		$author["name"] = $xpath->evaluate($element."/atom:name/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
-		$author["link"] = $xpath->evaluate($element."/atom:uri/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$author["name"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element."/atom:name/text()", $context);
+		$author["link"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element."/atom:uri/text()", $context);
 
 		$fields = ['id', 'uid', 'url', 'network', 'avatar-date', 'avatar', 'name-date', 'uri-date', 'addr',
 			'name', 'nick', 'about', 'location', 'keywords', 'xmpp', 'bdyear', 'bd', 'hidden', 'contact-type'];
@@ -1606,33 +1606,33 @@ class DFRN
 			}
 
 			// Update contact data
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/dfrn:handle/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/dfrn:handle/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["addr"] = $value;
 			}
 
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:displayName/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:displayName/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["name"] = $value;
 			}
 
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:preferredUsername/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:preferredUsername/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["nick"] = $value;
 			}
 
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:note/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:note/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["about"] = $value;
 			}
 
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:address/poco:formatted/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:address/poco:formatted/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["location"] = $value;
 			}
 
 			/// @todo Only search for elements with "poco:type" = "xmpp"
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:ims/poco:value/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:ims/poco:value/text()", $context);
 			if ($value != "") {
 				$poco["xmpp"] = $value;
 			}
@@ -1645,7 +1645,7 @@ class DFRN
 			/// - poco:country
 
 			// If the "hide" element is present then the profile isn't searchable.
-			$hide = intval($xpath->evaluate($element . "/dfrn:hide/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue == "true");
+			$hide = intval(XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/dfrn:hide/text()", $context) == "true");
 
 			logger("Hidden status for contact " . $contact_old["url"] . ": " . $hide, LOGGER_DEBUG);
 
@@ -1667,7 +1667,7 @@ class DFRN
 			}
 
 			// "dfrn:birthday" contains the birthday converted to UTC
-			$birthday = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/dfrn:birthday/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$birthday = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:birthday/text()", $context);
 
 			if (strtotime($birthday) > time()) {
 				$bd_timestamp = strtotime($birthday);
@@ -1676,7 +1676,7 @@ class DFRN
 			}
 
 			// "poco:birthday" is the birthday in the format "yyyy-mm-dd"
-			$value = $xpath->evaluate($element . "/poco:birthday/text()", $context)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element . "/poco:birthday/text()", $context);
 
 			if (!in_array($value, ["", "0000-00-00", "0001-01-01"])) {
 				$bdyear = date("Y");
@@ -2410,9 +2410,9 @@ class DFRN
 		$item["source"] = $xml;
 
 		// Get the uri
-		$item["uri"] = $xpath->query("atom:id/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["uri"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "atom:id/text()", $entry);
 
-		$item["edited"] = $xpath->query("atom:updated/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["edited"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "atom:updated/text()", $entry);
 
 		$current = Item::selectFirst(['id', 'uid', 'edited', 'body'],
 			['uri' => $item["uri"], 'uid' => $importer["importer_uid"]]
@@ -2435,11 +2435,11 @@ class DFRN
 		$item["author-link"] = $author["link"];
 		$item["author-id"] = Contact::getIdForURL($author["link"], 0);
 
-		$item["title"] = $xpath->query("atom:title/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["title"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "atom:title/text()", $entry);
 
-		$item["created"] = $xpath->query("atom:published/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["created"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "atom:published/text()", $entry);
 
-		$item["body"] = $xpath->query("dfrn:env/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["body"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:env/text()", $entry);
 		$item["body"] = str_replace([' ',"\t","\r","\n"], ['','','',''], $item["body"]);
 		// make sure nobody is trying to sneak some html tags by us
 		$item["body"] = notags(base64url_decode($item["body"]));
@@ -2472,18 +2472,15 @@ class DFRN
 		// We don't need the content element since "dfrn:env" is always present
 		//$item["body"] = $xpath->query("atom:content/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
 
-		$item["location"] = $xpath->query("dfrn:location/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["location"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:location/text()", $entry);
 
-		$georsspoint = $xpath->query("georss:point", $entry);
-		if ($georsspoint) {
-			$item["coord"] = $georsspoint->item(0)->nodeValue;
-		}
+		$item["coord"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "georss:point", $entry);
 
-		$item["private"] = $xpath->query("dfrn:private/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["private"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:private/text()", $entry);
 
-		$item["extid"] = $xpath->query("dfrn:extid/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["extid"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:extid/text()", $entry);
 
-		if ($xpath->query("dfrn:bookmark/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue == "true") {
+		if (XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:bookmark/text()", $entry) == "true") {
 			$item["bookmark"] = true;
 		}
 
@@ -2496,18 +2493,18 @@ class DFRN
 			}
 		}
 
-		$item["guid"] = $xpath->query("dfrn:diaspora_guid/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["guid"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:diaspora_guid/text()", $entry);
 
 		// We store the data from "dfrn:diaspora_signature" in a different table, this is done in "Item::insert"
-		$dsprsig = unxmlify($xpath->query("dfrn:diaspora_signature/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue);
+		$dsprsig = unxmlify(XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "dfrn:diaspora_signature/text()", $entry));
 		if ($dsprsig != "") {
 			$item["dsprsig"] = $dsprsig;
 		}
 
-		$item["verb"] = $xpath->query("activity:verb/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item["verb"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "activity:verb/text()", $entry);
 
-		if ($xpath->query("activity:object-type/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue != "") {
-			$item["object-type"] = $xpath->query("activity:object-type/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		if (XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "activity:object-type/text()", $entry) != "") {
+			$item["object-type"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "activity:object-type/text()", $entry);
 		}
 
 		$object = $xpath->query("activity:object", $entry)->item(0);
@@ -2544,8 +2541,10 @@ class DFRN
 						$termhash = array_shift($parts);
 						$termurl = implode(":", $parts);
 
-						if (strlen($item["tag"])) {
+						if (!empty($item["tag"])) {
 							$item["tag"] .= ",";
+						} else {
+							$item["tag"] = "";
 						}
 
 						$item["tag"] .= $termhash . "[url=" . $termurl . "]" . $term . "[/url]";
@@ -2561,7 +2560,7 @@ class DFRN
 			self::parseLinks($links, $item);
 		}
 
-		$item['conversation-uri'] = $xpath->query('ostatus:conversation/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+		$item['conversation-uri'] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'ostatus:conversation/text()', $entry);
 
 		$conv = $xpath->query('ostatus:conversation', $entry);
 		if (is_object($conv->item(0))) {
@@ -2835,11 +2834,11 @@ class DFRN
 		logger("Import DFRN message for user " . $importer["importer_uid"] . " from contact " . $importer["id"], LOGGER_DEBUG);
 
 		// is it a public forum? Private forums aren't exposed with this method
-		$forum = intval($xpath->evaluate("/atom:feed/dfrn:community/text()")->item(0)->nodeValue);
+		$forum = intval(XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "/atom:feed/dfrn:community/text()"));
 
 		// The account type is new since 3.5.1
 		if ($xpath->query("/atom:feed/dfrn:account_type")->length > 0) {
-			$accounttype = intval($xpath->evaluate("/atom:feed/dfrn:account_type/text()")->item(0)->nodeValue);
+			$accounttype = intval(XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "/atom:feed/dfrn:account_type/text()"));
 
 			if ($accounttype != $importer["contact-type"]) {
 				dba::update('contact', ['contact-type' => $accounttype], ['id' => $importer["id"]]);
@@ -2887,7 +2886,7 @@ class DFRN
 			$newentries = [];
 			$entries = $xpath->query("/atom:feed/atom:entry");
 			foreach ($entries as $entry) {
-				$created = $xpath->query("atom:published/text()", $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$created = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, "atom:published/text()", $entry);
 				$newentries[strtotime($created)] = $entry;
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/Protocol/Feed.php b/src/Protocol/Feed.php
index 29ab21d1f..c0b094cae 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/Feed.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/Feed.php
@@ -131,11 +131,11 @@ class Feed {
 				if ($value != "") {
 					$author["author-nick"] = $value;
 				}
-				$value = $xpath->evaluate('atom:author/poco:address/poco:formatted/text()')->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:author/poco:address/poco:formatted/text()');
 				if ($value != "") {
 					$author["author-location"] = $value;
 				}
-				$value = $xpath->evaluate('atom:author/poco:note/text()')->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$value = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:author/poco:note/text()');
 				if ($value != "") {
 					$author["author-about"] = $value;
 				}
@@ -149,9 +149,9 @@ class Feed {
 				}
 			}
 
-			$author["edited"] = $author["created"] = $xpath->query('/atom:feed/atom:updated/text()')->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$author["edited"] = $author["created"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, '/atom:feed/atom:updated/text()');
 
-			$author["app"] = $xpath->evaluate('/atom:feed/atom:generator/text()')->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$author["app"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, '/atom:feed/atom:generator/text()');
 
 			$entries = $xpath->query('/atom:feed/atom:entry');
 		}
@@ -226,16 +226,16 @@ class Feed {
 				}
 			}
 			if ($item["plink"] == "") {
-				$item["plink"] = $xpath->evaluate('link/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$item["plink"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'link/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($item["plink"] == "") {
-				$item["plink"] = $xpath->evaluate('rss:link/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$item["plink"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'rss:link/text()', $entry);
 			}
 
-			$item["uri"] = $xpath->evaluate('atom:id/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$item["uri"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:id/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($item["uri"] == "") {
-				$item["uri"] = $xpath->evaluate('guid/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$item["uri"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'guid/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($item["uri"] == "") {
 				$item["uri"] = $item["plink"];
@@ -257,23 +257,23 @@ class Feed {
 				}
 			}
 
-			$item["title"] = $xpath->evaluate('atom:title/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$item["title"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:title/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($item["title"] == "") {
-				$item["title"] = $xpath->evaluate('title/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$item["title"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'title/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($item["title"] == "") {
-				$item["title"] = $xpath->evaluate('rss:title/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$item["title"] = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'rss:title/text()', $entry);
 			}
-			$published = $xpath->query('atom:published/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$published = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:published/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($published == "") {
-				$published = $xpath->query('pubDate/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$published = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'pubDate/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($published == "") {
-				$published = $xpath->query('dc:date/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$published = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'dc:date/text()', $entry);
 			}
-			$updated = $xpath->query('atom:updated/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$updated = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:updated/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($updated == "") {
 				$updated = $published;
@@ -284,18 +284,18 @@ class Feed {
 			if ($updated != "") {
 				$item["edited"] = $updated;
 			}
-			$creator = $xpath->query('author/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$creator = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'author/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($creator == "") {
-				$creator = $xpath->query('atom:author/atom:name/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$creator = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'atom:author/atom:name/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($creator == "") {
-				$creator = $xpath->query('dc:creator/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+				$creator = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'dc:creator/text()', $entry);
 			}
 			if ($creator != "") {
 				$item["author-name"] = $creator;
 			}
-			$creator = $xpath->query('dc:creator/text()', $entry)->item(0)->nodeValue;
+			$creator = XML::getFirstNodeValue($xpath, 'dc:creator/text()', $entry);
 
 			if ($creator != "") {
 				$item["author-name"] = $creator;
diff --git a/src/Util/XML.php b/src/Util/XML.php
index 8dc540324..03e17a554 100644
--- a/src/Util/XML.php
+++ b/src/Util/XML.php
@@ -431,4 +431,19 @@ class XML
 		}
 		return $x;
 	}
+
+	public static function getFirstNodeValue($xpath, $element, $context = null)
+	{
+		$result = $xpath->evaluate($element, $context);
+		if (!is_object($result)) {
+			return '';
+		}
+
+		$first_item = $result->item(0);
+		if (!is_object($first_item)) {
+			return '';
+		}
+
+		return $first_item->nodeValue;
+	}
 }