diff --git a/src/activitypub/inbox.js b/src/activitypub/inbox.js
index 73ba0b0964..38bfee26ce 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/inbox.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/inbox.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ inbox.create = async (req) => {
 	}
 
 	const tid = await activitypub.notes.assertTopic(0, object.id);
-	winston.info(`[activitypub/inbox] Parsing note ${object.id} into topic ${tid}`);
+	winston.verbose(`[activitypub/inbox] Parsing note ${object.id} into topic ${tid}`);
 };
 
 inbox.update = async (req) => {
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ inbox.update = async (req) => {
 				privileges.posts.can('posts:edit', object.id, activitypub._constants.uid),
 			]);
 			if (!exists || !allowed) {
-				winston.info(`[activitypub/inbox.update] ${object.id} not allowed to be edited.`);
+				winston.warn(`[activitypub/inbox.update] ${object.id} not allowed to be edited.`);
 				return activitypub.send('uid', 0, actor, {
 					type: 'Reject',
 					object: {
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ inbox.update = async (req) => {
 
 			if (postData) {
 				await activitypub.notes.assert(0, [postData], { update: true });
-				winston.info(`[activitypub/inbox.update] Updating note ${postData.pid}`);
+				winston.verbose(`[activitypub/inbox.update] Updating note ${postData.pid}`);
 			} else {
 				winston.warn(`[activitypub/inbox.update] Received note did not parse properly (id: ${object.id})`);
 			}
diff --git a/src/topics/create.js b/src/topics/create.js
index fc12465b54..6f10c950c2 100644
--- a/src/topics/create.js
+++ b/src/topics/create.js
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ module.exports = function (Topics) {
 		const { uid } = data;
 
 		const [categoryExists, canCreate, canTag, isAdmin] = await Promise.all([
-			categories.exists(data.cid),
+			parseInt(data.cid, 10) > 0 ? categories.exists(data.cid) : true,
 			privileges.categories.can('topics:create', data.cid, uid),
 			privileges.categories.can('topics:tag', data.cid, uid),
 			privileges.users.isAdministrator(uid),
diff --git a/test/activitypub.js b/test/activitypub.js
index 857b2a86a9..55aa288139 100644
--- a/test/activitypub.js
+++ b/test/activitypub.js
@@ -455,6 +455,20 @@ describe('ActivityPub integration', () => {
 						mediaType: 'text/markdown',
 					},
 				};
+				const remoteUser = {
+					'@context': 'https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams',
+					id: 'https://example.org/user/foobar',
+					url: 'https://example.org/user/foobar',
+
+					type: 'Person',
+					name: 'Foo Bar',
+					preferredUsername: 'foobar',
+					publicKey: {
+						id: 'https://example.org/user/foobar#key',
+						owner: 'https://example.org/user/foobar',
+						publicKeyPem: 'publickey',
+					},
+				};
 
 				let topic;
 
@@ -462,6 +476,7 @@ describe('ActivityPub integration', () => {
 					const controllers = require('../src/controllers');
 
 					activitypub._cache.set(`0;${id}`, remoteNote);
+					activitypub._cache.set(`0;https://example.org/user/foobar`, remoteUser);
 					await controllers.activitypub.postInbox({
 						body: {
 							type: 'Create',