diff --git a/daemon.py b/daemon.py
index 72a0da08a..4ec5de574 100644
--- a/daemon.py
+++ b/daemon.py
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ class PubServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
             return False
 
         if not referer_domain:
-            if not debug and not self.server.unit_test:
+            if not (debug and self.server.unit_test):
                 print('mastodon api request has no referer domain ' +
                       str(ua_str))
                 self._400()
diff --git a/languages.py b/languages.py
index 1dc2fcb82..621c94c72 100644
--- a/languages.py
+++ b/languages.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ __email__ = "bob@libreserver.org"
 __status__ = "Production"
 __module_group__ = "Core"
 
-import os
 import json
 from urllib import request, parse
 from utils import get_actor_languages_list
@@ -49,22 +48,15 @@ def get_understood_languages(base_dir: str, http_prefix: str,
 
 def set_actor_languages(base_dir: str, actor_json: {},
                         languages_str: str) -> None:
-    """Sets the languages used by the given actor
+    """Sets the languages understood by the given actor
     """
     languages_str = languages_str.strip()
     separator = None
-    if ',' in languages_str:
-        separator = ','
-    elif '/' in languages_str:
-        separator = '/'
-    elif ',' in languages_str:
-        separator = ','
-    elif ';' in languages_str:
-        separator = ';'
-    elif '+' in languages_str:
-        separator = '+'
-    elif ' ' in languages_str:
-        separator = ' '
+    possible_separators = (',', '/', ';', '+', ' ')
+    for poss in possible_separators:
+        if poss in languages_str:
+            separator = poss
+            break
     if separator:
         lang_list = languages_str.lower().split(separator)
     else:
@@ -72,18 +64,11 @@ def set_actor_languages(base_dir: str, actor_json: {},
     lang_list2 = ''
     for lang in lang_list:
         lang = lang.strip()
-        if base_dir:
-            language_filename = base_dir + '/translations/' + lang + '.json'
-            if os.path.isfile(language_filename):
-                if lang_list2:
-                    lang_list2 += ', ' + lang.strip()
-                else:
-                    lang_list2 += lang.strip()
+        if lang_list2:
+            if ' ' + lang not in lang_list2:
+                lang_list2 += ', ' + lang
         else:
-            if lang_list2:
-                lang_list2 += ', ' + lang.strip()
-            else:
-                lang_list2 += lang.strip()
+            lang_list2 += lang
 
     # remove any existing value
     property_found = None
diff --git a/webfinger.py b/webfinger.py
index 0393c1140..fa0497513 100644
--- a/webfinger.py
+++ b/webfinger.py
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ def webfinger_handle(session, handle: str, http_prefix: str,
     wf_domain = remove_domain_port(domain)
 
     wf_handle = nickname + '@' + wf_domain
+    if debug:
+        print('Parsed webfinger handle: ' + handle + ' -> ' + wf_handle)
     wfg = get_webfinger_from_cache(wf_handle, cached_webfingers)
     if wfg:
         if debug:
@@ -95,15 +97,37 @@ def webfinger_handle(session, handle: str, http_prefix: str,
             get_json(signing_priv_key_pem, session, url, hdr, par,
                      debug, project_version, http_prefix, from_domain)
     except Exception as ex:
-        print('ERROR: webfinger_handle ' + str(ex))
+        print('ERROR: webfinger_handle ' + wf_handle + ' ' + str(ex))
         return None
 
+    # if the first attempt fails then try specifying the webfinger
+    # resource in a different way
+    if not result:
+        resource = handle
+        if handle == wf_handle:
+            # reconstruct the actor
+            resource = http_prefix + '://' + wf_domain + '/users/' + nickname
+        # try again using the actor as the resource
+        # See https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7033 section 4.5
+        par = {
+            'resource': '{}'.format(resource)
+        }
+        try:
+            result = \
+                get_json(signing_priv_key_pem, session, url, hdr, par,
+                         debug, project_version, http_prefix, from_domain)
+        except Exception as ex:
+            print('ERROR: webfinger_handle ' + wf_handle + ' ' + str(ex))
+            return None
+
     if result:
         store_webfinger_in_cache(wf_handle, result, cached_webfingers)
     else:
         if debug:
             print("WARN: Unable to webfinger " + url + ' ' +
                   'nickname: ' + str(nickname) + ' ' +
+                  'handle: ' + str(handle) + ' ' +
+                  'wf_handle: ' + str(wf_handle) + ' ' +
                   'domain: ' + str(wf_domain) + ' ' +
                   'headers: ' + str(hdr) + ' ' +
                   'params: ' + str(par))