diff --git a/boot.php b/boot.php
index 0a2f5c50cd..a1f29398f6 100644
--- a/boot.php
+++ b/boot.php
@@ -2149,3 +2149,7 @@ function argv($x) {
 
 	return '';
 }
+
+function is_filled_array ($array) {
+	return (is_array($array) && count($array) > 0);
+}
diff --git a/mod/message.php b/mod/message.php
index 734bf34710..6e176f7123 100644
--- a/mod/message.php
+++ b/mod/message.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ function message_init(&$a) {
 	$tabs = '';
 
 	if ($a->argc >1 && is_numeric($a->argv[1])) {
-	 $tabs = render_messages(get_messages(local_user(),0,5), 'mail_list.tpl');
+		$tabs = render_messages(get_messages(local_user(),0,5), 'mail_list.tpl');
 	}
 
 	$new = array(
@@ -360,11 +360,13 @@ function message_content(&$a) {
 			dbesc($myprofile)
 		);
 
-		if(count($r)) $a->set_pager_total($r[0]['total']);
+		if (is_filled_array($r)) {
+			$a->set_pager_total($r[0]['total']);
+		}
 
 		$r = get_messages(local_user(), $a->pager['start'], $a->pager['itemspage']);
 
-		if(! count($r)) {
+		if(! is_filled_array($r)) {
 			info( t('No messages.') . EOL);
 			return $o;
 		}
@@ -542,7 +544,7 @@ function get_messages($user, $lstart, $lend) {
 	);
 }
 
-function render_messages($msg, $t) {
+function render_messages(array $msg, $t) {
 
 	$a = get_app();
 
diff --git a/mod/ping.php b/mod/ping.php
index 2eb94576b3..8deab28ed2 100644
--- a/mod/ping.php
+++ b/mod/ping.php
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		$dislikes = array();
 		$friends = array();
 		$posts = array();
+		$regs = array();
+		$mails = array();
 
 		$home = 0;
 		$network = 0;
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			intval(local_user()), intval(local_user())
 		);
 
-		if(count($r)) {
+		if(is_filled_array($r)) {
 
 			$arr = array('items' => $r);
 			call_hooks('network_ping', $arr);
@@ -116,8 +118,6 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		$intro = count($intros1) + count($intros2);
 		$intros = $intros1+$intros2;
 
-
-
 		$myurl = $a->get_baseurl() . '/profile/' . $a->user['nickname'] ;
 		$mails = q("SELECT * FROM `mail`
 			WHERE `uid` = %d AND `seen` = 0 AND `from-url` != '%s' ",
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now'))
 		);
 
-		if($ev && count($ev)) {
+		if(is_filled_array($ev)) {
 			$all_events = intval($ev[0]['total']);
 
 			if($all_events) {
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 				<home>$home</home>\r\n";
 		if ($register!=0) echo "<register>$register</register>";
 
-		if (count($groups_unseen)) {
+		if ( is_filled_array($groups_unseen) ) {
 			echo '<groups>';
 			foreach ($groups_unseen as $it)
 				if ($it['count'] > 0)
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			echo "</groups>";
 		}
 
-		if (count($forums_unseen)) {
+		if ( is_filled_array($forums_unseen) ) {
 			echo '<forums>';
 			foreach ($forums_unseen as $it)
 				if ($it['count'] > 0)
@@ -245,8 +245,8 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			<birthdays-today>$birthdays_today</birthdays-today>\r\n";
 
 
-		if(count($notifs) && (! $sysnotify)) {
-			foreach($notifs as $zz) {
+		if (is_filled_array($notifs) && (! $sysnotify)) {
+			foreach ($notifs as $zz) {
 				if($zz['seen'] == 0)
 					$sysnotify ++;
 			}
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		echo '	<notif count="'. ($sysnotify + $intro + $mail + $register) .'">';
 
 		// merge all notification types in one array
-		if ($intro>0){
+		if ( is_filled_array($intros) ) {
 			foreach ($intros as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/notifications/intros/'.$i['id'],
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ($mail>0){
+		if ( is_filled_array($mails) ) {
 			foreach ($mails as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/message/'.$i['id'],
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ($register>0){
+		if ( is_filled_array($regs) ) {
 			foreach ($regs as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/admin/users/',
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 				$notifs[] = $n;
 			}
 		}
+
 		// sort notifications by $[]['date']
 		$sort_function = function($a, $b) {
 			$adate = date($a['date']);
@@ -310,7 +311,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		};
 		usort($notifs, $sort_function);
 
-		if(count($notifs)) {
+		if( is_filled_array($notifs) ) {
 			foreach($notifs as $n) {
 				echo xmlize($n);
 			}