diff --git a/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Filter.pm b/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Filter.pm
index 8b983bfc9..8fd494b96 100644
--- a/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Filter.pm
+++ b/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Filter.pm
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ use warnings;
 require ZoneMinder::Base;
 require Date::Manip;
 
-use parent qw(ZoneMinder::Object);;
+use parent qw(ZoneMinder::Object);
 #our @ISA = qw(ZoneMinder::Object);
 
 use vars qw/ $table $primary_key /;
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ sub Execute {
         $sql =~ s/zmSystemLoad/$load/g;
     }
 
-    my $sth = $$self{dbh}->prepare_cached( $sql )
-        or Fatal( "Can't prepare '$sql': ".$$self{dbh}->errstr() );
+    my $sth = $ZoneMinder::Database::dbh->prepare_cached( $sql )
+        or Fatal( "Can't prepare '$sql': ".$ZoneMinder::Database::dbh->errstr() );
     my $res = $sth->execute();
     if ( !$res )
     {
diff --git a/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Object.pm b/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Object.pm
index 147d5928c..379aab045 100644
--- a/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Object.pm
+++ b/scripts/ZoneMinder/lib/ZoneMinder/Object.pm
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ sub new {
 
 	my $self = {};
 	bless $self, $parent;
+		no strict 'refs';
+		my $primary_key = ${$parent.'::primary_key'};
+		if ( ! $primary_key ) {
+			Error( 'NO primary_key for type ' . $parent );
+			return;
+		} # end if
 	if ( ( $$self{$primary_key} = $id ) or $data ) {
 #$log->debug("loading $parent $id") if $debug or DEBUG_ALL;
 		$self->load( $data );