diff --git a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java
index ea1ac0cd6..f79df6abb 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ public class NetUtils {
         params.put( k_PARAMS, param );
         String paramsString = getPostDataString( params );
 
-        if ( null != paramsString ) {
+        if ( null != conn && null != paramsString ) {
             try {
                 conn.setReadTimeout( 15000 );
                 conn.setConnectTimeout( 15000 );
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@ public class NetUtils {
             } catch( java.io.IOException ioe ) {
                 Log.ex( TAG, ioe );
             }
+        } else {
+            Log.e( TAG, "not running conn %s with params %s", conn,
+                   paramsString );
         }
 
         return result;
diff --git a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/XWPrefs.java b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/XWPrefs.java
index 6011a22b7..1f1a1a2eb 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/XWPrefs.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/XWPrefs.java
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ public class XWPrefs {
 
     public static String getDefaultRelayUrl( Context context )
     {
-        return getPrefsString( context, R.string.key_relay_url );
+        String result = getPrefsString( context, R.string.key_relay_url );
+        if ( result == null || 0 == result.length() ) {
+            result = context.getString( R.string.default_relay_url );
+        }
+        return result;
     }
 
     public static boolean getSkipToWebAPI( Context context )