diff --git a/src/Core/Storage/Type/ExternalResource.php b/src/Core/Storage/Type/ExternalResource.php
index b9b67a122a..0345f3ae8e 100644
--- a/src/Core/Storage/Type/ExternalResource.php
+++ b/src/Core/Storage/Type/ExternalResource.php
@@ -54,16 +54,13 @@ class ExternalResource implements ICanReadFromStorage
 			$this->logger->notice('URL is invalid', ['url' => $data->url, 'error' => $exception]);
 			throw new ReferenceStorageException(sprintf('External resource failed to get %s', $reference), $exception->getCode(), $exception);
 		}
-		if (!empty($fetchResult) && $fetchResult->isSuccess()) {
-			$this->logger->debug('Got picture', ['Content-Type' => $fetchResult->getHeader('Content-Type'), 'uid' => $data->uid, 'url' => $data->url]);
-			return $fetchResult->getBodyString();
-		} else {
-			if (empty($fetchResult)) {
-				throw new ReferenceStorageException(sprintf('External resource failed to get %s', $reference));
-			} else {
-				throw new ReferenceStorageException(sprintf('External resource failed to get %s', $reference), $fetchResult->getReturnCode(), new Exception($fetchResult->getBodyString()));
-			}
+
+		if (!$fetchResult->isSuccess()) {
+			throw new ReferenceStorageException(sprintf('External resource failed to get %s', $reference), $fetchResult->getReturnCode(), new Exception($fetchResult->getBodyString()));
 		}
+
+		$this->logger->debug('Got picture', ['Content-Type' => $fetchResult->getHeader('Content-Type'), 'uid' => $data->uid, 'url' => $data->url]);
+		return $fetchResult->getBodyString();
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/Database/DBStructure.php b/src/Database/DBStructure.php
index 65a9f450ea..098a47d675 100644
--- a/src/Database/DBStructure.php
+++ b/src/Database/DBStructure.php
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ class DBStructure
 			$is_new_table = false;
 			$sql3         = "";
 			if (!isset($database[$name])) {
-				$sql = DbaDefinitionSqlWriter::createTable($name, $structure, $verbose, $action);
+				$sql = DbaDefinitionSqlWriter::createTable($name, $structure);
 				if ($verbose) {
 					echo $sql;
 				}
diff --git a/src/Database/Database.php b/src/Database/Database.php
index 1deb454190..15bb84765a 100644
--- a/src/Database/Database.php
+++ b/src/Database/Database.php
@@ -534,6 +534,8 @@ class Database
 			throw new ServiceUnavailableException('The Connection is empty, although connected is set true.');
 		}
 
+		$retval = false;
+
 		switch ($this->driver) {
 			case self::PDO:
 				// If there are no arguments we use "query"
@@ -1074,6 +1076,8 @@ class Database
 	 */
 	public function lastInsertId(): int
 	{
+		$id = 0;
+
 		switch ($this->driver) {
 			case self::PDO:
 				$id = $this->connection->lastInsertId();
@@ -1681,6 +1685,8 @@ class Database
 			return false;
 		}
 
+		$ret = false;
+
 		switch ($this->driver) {
 			case self::PDO:
 				$ret = $stmt->closeCursor();
@@ -1695,8 +1701,6 @@ class Database
 				} elseif ($stmt instanceof mysqli_result) {
 					$stmt->free();
 					$ret = true;
-				} else {
-					$ret = false;
 				}
 				break;
 		}
@@ -1770,8 +1774,8 @@ class Database
 	/**
 	 * Acquire a lock to prevent a table optimization
 	 *
-	 * @return bool 
-	 * @throws LockPersistenceException 
+	 * @return bool
+	 * @throws LockPersistenceException
 	 */
 	public function acquireOptimizeLock(): bool
 	{
@@ -1781,8 +1785,8 @@ class Database
 	/**
 	 * Release the table optimization lock
 	 *
-	 * @return bool 
-	 * @throws LockPersistenceException 
+	 * @return bool
+	 * @throws LockPersistenceException
 	 */
 	public function releaseOptimizeLock(): bool
 	{
diff --git a/src/Database/PostUpdate.php b/src/Database/PostUpdate.php
index 0f0eb12899..65c8e98c22 100644
--- a/src/Database/PostUpdate.php
+++ b/src/Database/PostUpdate.php
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ class PostUpdate
 		}
 
 		while ($item = DBA::fetch($items)) {
-			Tag::storeFromBody($item['uri-id'], $item['body'], '#!@', false);
+			Tag::storeFromBody($item['uri-id'], $item['body'], '#!@');
 			$id = $item['uri-id'];
 			++$rows;
 			if ($rows % 1000 == 0) {
@@ -775,11 +775,8 @@ class PostUpdate
 
 		while ($photo = DBA::fetch($photos)) {
 			$img = Photo::getImageForPhoto($photo);
-			if (!empty($img)) {
-				$md5 = md5($img->asString());
-			} else {
-				$md5 = '';
-			}
+			$md5 = md5($img->asString());
+
 			DBA::update('photo', ['hash' => $md5], ['id' => $photo['id']]);
 			++$rows;
 		}
@@ -1220,7 +1217,7 @@ class PostUpdate
 			$parts = parse_url($contact['url']);
 			unset($parts['path']);
 			$server = (string)Uri::fromParts($parts);
-		
+
 			DBA::update('contact',
 				['gsid' => GServer::getID($server, true), 'baseurl' => GServer::cleanURL($server)],
 				['id' => $contact['id']]);
diff --git a/src/Database/View.php b/src/Database/View.php
index dee61428ff..0d34c3a4bc 100644
--- a/src/Database/View.php
+++ b/src/Database/View.php
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ class View
 		foreach (['post-view', 'post-thread-view'] as $view) {
 			if (self::isView($view)) {
 				$sql = sprintf("DROP VIEW IF EXISTS `%s`", DBA::escape($view));
-				if (!empty($sql) && $verbose) {
+				if ($verbose) {
 					echo $sql . ";\n";
 				}
 
-				if (!empty($sql) && $action) {
+				if ($action) {
 					DBA::e($sql);
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/src/Factory/Api/Twitter/DirectMessage.php b/src/Factory/Api/Twitter/DirectMessage.php
index f80bdd85cc..fd276bd205 100644
--- a/src/Factory/Api/Twitter/DirectMessage.php
+++ b/src/Factory/Api/Twitter/DirectMessage.php
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ class DirectMessage extends BaseFactory
 			throw new HTTPException\NotFoundException('Direct message with ID ' . $mail . ' not found.');
 		}
 
+		$title = '';
+		$text  = '';
+
 		if (!empty($text_mode)) {
 			$title = $mail['title'];
 			if ($text_mode == 'html') {
@@ -56,7 +59,6 @@ class DirectMessage extends BaseFactory
 				$text = HTML::toPlaintext(BBCode::convertForUriId($mail['uri-id'], $mail['body'], BBCode::TWITTER_API), 0);
 			}
 		} else {
-			$title = '';
 			$text  = $mail['title'] . "\n" . HTML::toPlaintext(BBCode::convertForUriId($mail['uri-id'], $mail['body'], BBCode::TWITTER_API), 0);
 		}