diff --git a/public/language/en-GB/error.json b/public/language/en-GB/error.json
index 75a8328aa1..c353fb6964 100644
--- a/public/language/en-GB/error.json
+++ b/public/language/en-GB/error.json
@@ -274,5 +274,8 @@
 	"api.500": "An unexpected error was encountered while attempting to service your request.",
 	"api.501": "The route you are trying to call is not implemented yet, please try again tomorrow",
 	"api.503": "The route you are trying to call is not currently available due to a server configuration",
-	"api.reauth-required": "The resource you are trying to access requires (re-)authentication."
+	"api.reauth-required": "The resource you are trying to access requires (re-)authentication.",
+
+	"activitypub.invalid-id": "Unable to resolve the input id, likely as it is malformed.",
+	"activitypub.get-failed": "Unable to retrieve the specified resource."
 }
diff --git a/src/activitypub/helpers.js b/src/activitypub/helpers.js
index 133064d438..fefeb8be06 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/helpers.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/helpers.js
@@ -96,12 +96,12 @@ Helpers.resolveLocalUid = async (input) => {
 		if (host === nconf.get('url_parsed').host) {
 			slug = pathname.replace(nconf.get('relative_path'), '').split('/').filter(Boolean)[1];
 		} else {
-			throw new Error('[[activitypub:invalid-id]]');
+			throw new Error('[[error:activitypub.invalid-id]]');
 		}
 	} else if (input.indexOf('@') !== -1) { // Webfinger
 		([slug] = input.replace(/^acct:/, '').split('@'));
 	} else {
-		throw new Error('[[activitypub:invalid-id]]');
+		throw new Error('[[error:activitypub.invalid-id]]');
 	}
 
 	return await user.getUidByUserslug(slug);
diff --git a/src/activitypub/index.js b/src/activitypub/index.js
index 272206a168..13986b836f 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/index.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/index.js
@@ -34,24 +34,23 @@ ActivityPub.getActor = async (uid, input) => {
 		return actorCache.get(uri);
 	}
 
-	const actor = await ActivityPub.get(uid, uri);
+	try {
+		const actor = await ActivityPub.get(uid, uri);
 
-	// todo: remove this after ActivityPub.get is updated to handle errors more effectively
-	if (typeof actor === 'string' || actor.hasOwnProperty('error')) {
+		// Follow counts
+		const [followers, following] = await Promise.all([
+			actor.followers ? ActivityPub.get(uid, actor.followers) : { totalItems: 0 },
+			actor.following ? ActivityPub.get(uid, actor.following) : { totalItems: 0 },
+		]);
+		actor.followerCount = followers.totalItems;
+		actor.followingCount = following.totalItems;
+
+		actorCache.set(uri, actor);
+		return actor;
+	} catch (e) {
+		winston.warn(`[activitypub/getActor] Unable to retrieve actor "${uri}", error: ${e.message}`);
 		return null;
 	}
-
-	const [followers, following] = await Promise.all([
-		actor.followers ? ActivityPub.get(uid, actor.followers) : { totalItems: 0 },
-		actor.following ? ActivityPub.get(uid, actor.following) : { totalItems: 0 },
-	]);
-
-	actor.hostname = new URL(uri).hostname;
-	actor.followerCount = followers.totalItems;
-	actor.followingCount = following.totalItems;
-
-	actorCache.set(uri, actor);
-	return actor;
 };
 
 ActivityPub.mockProfile = async (actors, callerUid = 0) => {
@@ -237,6 +236,8 @@ ActivityPub.get = async (uid, uri) => {
 		if (body.hasOwnProperty('error')) {
 			winston.error(`[activitypub/get] Error received: ${body.error}`);
 		}
+
+		throw new Error(`[[error:activitypub.get-failed]]`);
 	}
 
 	return body;
diff --git a/src/api/activitypub.js b/src/api/activitypub.js
index 86d9fb9d32..f6544f0962 100644
--- a/src/api/activitypub.js
+++ b/src/api/activitypub.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const activitypubApi = module.exports;
 activitypubApi.follow = async (caller, { actorId } = {}) => {
 	const object = await activitypub.getActor(caller.uid, actorId);
 	if (!object) {
-		throw new Error('[[error:invalid-uid]]'); // should be activitypub-specific
+		throw new Error('[[error:activitypub.invalid-id]]');
 	}
 
 	await activitypub.send(caller.uid, actorId, {
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ activitypubApi.unfollow = async (caller, { actorId }) => {
 	const object = await activitypub.getActor(caller.uid, actorId);
 	const userslug = await user.getUserField(caller.uid, 'userslug');
 	if (!object) {
-		throw new Error('[[error:invalid-uid]]'); // should be activitypub-specific
+		throw new Error('[[error:activitypub.invalid-id]]');
 	}
 
 	await activitypub.send(caller.uid, actorId, {