diff --git a/libtransport/User.cpp b/libtransport/User.cpp
index ee35157c..dee06fe4 100644
--- a/libtransport/User.cpp
+++ b/libtransport/User.cpp
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ User::User(const Swift::JID &jid, UserInfo &userInfo, Component *component, User
 	m_resources = 0;
 	m_reconnectCounter = 0;
 	m_reconnectLimit = 3;
+	m_storageBackend = NULL;
 
 	m_reconnectTimer = m_component->getNetworkFactories()->getTimerFactory()->createTimer(5000);
 	m_reconnectTimer->onTick.connect(boost::bind(&User::onConnectingTimeout, this)); 
@@ -173,17 +174,19 @@ void User::leaveRoom(const std::string &room) {
 void User::handlePresence(Swift::Presence::ref presence, bool forceJoin) {
 	LOG4CXX_INFO(logger, "PRESENCE " << presence->getFrom().toString() << " " << presence->getTo().toString());
 
-	if (m_storageBackend) {
-		boost::shared_ptr<Swift::VCardUpdate> vcardUpdate = presence->getPayload<Swift::VCardUpdate>();
-		if (vcardUpdate) {
-			std::string value = "";
-			int type = (int) TYPE_STRING;
+	boost::shared_ptr<Swift::VCardUpdate> vcardUpdate = presence->getPayload<Swift::VCardUpdate>();
+	if (vcardUpdate) {
+		std::string value = "";
+		int type = (int) TYPE_STRING;
+		if (m_storageBackend) {
 			m_storageBackend->getUserSetting(m_userInfo.id, "photohash", type, value);
-			if (value != vcardUpdate->getPhotoHash()) {
-				LOG4CXX_INFO(logger, m_jid.toString() << ": Requesting VCard")
+		}
+		if (value != vcardUpdate->getPhotoHash()) {
+			LOG4CXX_INFO(logger, m_jid.toString() << ": Requesting VCard")
+			if (m_storageBackend) {
 				m_storageBackend->updateUserSetting(m_userInfo.id, "photohash", vcardUpdate->getPhotoHash());
-				requestVCard();
 			}
+			requestVCard();
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spectrum/src/frontends/xmpp/vcardresponder.cpp b/spectrum/src/frontends/xmpp/vcardresponder.cpp
index 4269ff2f..5085af0a 100644
--- a/spectrum/src/frontends/xmpp/vcardresponder.cpp
+++ b/spectrum/src/frontends/xmpp/vcardresponder.cpp
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ bool VCardResponder::handleGetRequest(const Swift::JID& from, const Swift::JID&
 }
 
 bool VCardResponder::handleSetRequest(const Swift::JID& from, const Swift::JID& to, const std::string& id, boost::shared_ptr<Swift::VCard> payload) {
-	if (!to.getNode().empty()) {
+	if (!to.getNode().empty() && from.toBare().toString() != to.toBare().toString()) {
 		LOG4CXX_WARN(logger, from.toBare().toString() << ": Tried to set VCard of somebody else");
 		return false;
 	}
diff --git a/tests/start.py b/tests/start.py
index 6cd66c05..14c1aeef 100644
--- a/tests/start.py
+++ b/tests/start.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ class BaseTest:
 		responder.register_plugin('xep_0030')  # Service Discovery
 		responder.register_plugin('xep_0045')  # Multi-User Chat
 		responder.register_plugin('xep_0199')  # XMPP Ping
+		responder.register_plugin('xep_0153')
+		responder.register_plugin('xep_0054')
 		responder['feature_mechanisms'].unencrypted_plain = True
 
 		to = ("127.0.0.1", 5223)
@@ -63,6 +65,8 @@ class BaseTest:
 		client.register_plugin('xep_0030')  # Service Discovery
 		client.register_plugin('xep_0045')  # Multi-User Chat
 		client.register_plugin('xep_0199')  # XMPP Ping
+		client.register_plugin('xep_0153')
+		client.register_plugin('xep_0054')
 		client['feature_mechanisms'].unencrypted_plain = True
 
 		time.sleep(2)