diff --git a/app/Helpers/Update/UpdateTrait.php b/app/Helpers/Update/UpdateTrait.php
index dc3610ee07..9ac6dc2b2f 100644
--- a/app/Helpers/Update/UpdateTrait.php
+++ b/app/Helpers/Update/UpdateTrait.php
@@ -43,8 +43,9 @@ trait UpdateTrait
     {
         Log::debug('Now in getLatestRelease()');
         /** @var UpdateRequestInterface $checker */
-        $checker = app(UpdateRequestInterface::class);
-        $channel = app('fireflyconfig')->get('update_channel', 'stable')->data;
+        $checker       = app(UpdateRequestInterface::class);
+        $channelConfig = app('fireflyconfig')->get('update_channel', 'stable');
+        $channel       = $channelConfig ? $channelConfig->data : 'stable';
 
         return $checker->getUpdateInformation($channel);
     }
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php b/app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php
index a54c40afba..79434b738c 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ class Controller extends BaseController
     public function __construct()
     {
         // is site a demo site?
-        $isDemoSite = app('fireflyconfig')->get('is_demo_site', config('firefly.configuration.is_demo_site', false,),)->data;
+        $isDemoSiteConfig = app('fireflyconfig')->get('is_demo_site', config('firefly.configuration.is_demo_site', false,),);
+        $isDemoSite = $isDemoSiteConfig ? $isDemoSiteConfig->data : false;
         app('view')->share('IS_DEMO_SITE', $isDemoSite,);
         app('view')->share('DEMO_USERNAME', config('firefly.demo_username'));
         app('view')->share('DEMO_PASSWORD', config('firefly.demo_password'));
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/DebugController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/DebugController.php
index e77f40c4ba..d6055e4da2 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/DebugController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/DebugController.php
@@ -121,25 +121,26 @@ class DebugController extends Controller
         $search  = ['~', '#'];
         $replace = ['\~', '# '];
 
-        $now            = Carbon::now()->format('Y-m-d H:i:s e');
-        $installationId = app('fireflyconfig')->get('installation_id', '')->data;
-        $phpVersion     = str_replace($search, $replace, PHP_VERSION);
-        $phpOs          = str_replace($search, $replace, PHP_OS);
-        $interface      = PHP_SAPI;
-        $drivers        = implode(', ', DB::availableDrivers());
-        $currentDriver  = DB::getDriverName();
-        $userAgent      = $request->header('user-agent');
-        $trustedProxies = config('firefly.trusted_proxies');
-        $displayErrors  = ini_get('display_errors');
-        $errorReporting = $this->errorReporting((int) ini_get('error_reporting'));
-        $appEnv         = config('app.env');
-        $appDebug       = var_export(config('app.debug'), true);
-        $logChannel     = config('logging.default');
-        $appLogLevel    = config('logging.level');
-        $cacheDriver    = config('cache.default');
-        $loginProvider  = config('auth.providers.users.driver');
-        $bcscale        = bcscale();
-        $layout         = env('FIREFLY_III_LAYOUT');
+        $now                  = Carbon::now()->format('Y-m-d H:i:s e');
+        $installationIdConfig = app('fireflyconfig')->get('installation_id', '');
+        $installationId       = $installationIdConfig ? $installationIdConfig->data : '';
+        $phpVersion           = str_replace($search, $replace, PHP_VERSION);
+        $phpOs                = str_replace($search, $replace, PHP_OS);
+        $interface            = PHP_SAPI;
+        $drivers              = implode(', ', DB::availableDrivers());
+        $currentDriver        = DB::getDriverName();
+        $userAgent            = $request->header('user-agent');
+        $trustedProxies       = config('firefly.trusted_proxies');
+        $displayErrors        = ini_get('display_errors');
+        $errorReporting       = $this->errorReporting((int) ini_get('error_reporting'));
+        $appEnv               = config('app.env');
+        $appDebug             = var_export(config('app.debug'), true);
+        $logChannel           = config('logging.default');
+        $appLogLevel          = config('logging.level');
+        $cacheDriver          = config('cache.default');
+        $loginProvider        = config('auth.providers.users.driver');
+        $bcscale              = bcscale();
+        $layout               = env('FIREFLY_III_LAYOUT');
 
         // some new vars.
         $telemetry       = true === config('firefly.send_telemetry') && true === config('firefly.feature_flags.telemetry');
diff --git a/app/Support/FireflyConfig.php b/app/Support/FireflyConfig.php
index b8a96a0529..2c05be6cae 100644
--- a/app/Support/FireflyConfig.php
+++ b/app/Support/FireflyConfig.php
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ namespace FireflyIII\Support;
 
 use Cache;
 use Exception;
+use FireflyIII\Exceptions\FireflyException;
 use FireflyIII\Models\Configuration;
 use Illuminate\Database\QueryException;
 use Log;
@@ -67,9 +68,10 @@ class FireflyConfig
 
     /**
      * @param string $name
-     * @param mixed $default
+     * @param null   $default
      *
-     * @return \FireflyIII\Models\Configuration|null
+     * @throws FireflyException
+     * @return Configuration|null
      */
     public function get(string $name, $default = null): ?Configuration
     {
@@ -82,10 +84,12 @@ class FireflyConfig
         }
 
         try {
+            /** @var Configuration $config */
             $config = Configuration::where('name', $name)->first(['id', 'name', 'data']);
         } catch (QueryException|Exception $e) {
             Log::error(sprintf('Query exception while polling for config var: %s', $e->getMessage()));
-            return null;
+            Log::error($e->getTraceAsString());
+            throw new FireflyException(sprintf('Could not poll the database: %s', $e->getMessage()));
         }
 
         if ($config) {