diff --git a/ansible/roles/screenly/files/uzbl-config b/ansible/roles/screenly/files/uzbl-config
index c6612d35..74a3fa5c 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/screenly/files/uzbl-config
+++ b/ansible/roles/screenly/files/uzbl-config
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 set show_status = 0
-set ssl_verify  = 1
 set on_event    = request ON_EVENT
 
 @on_event   LOAD_START         js alert=function(e){return true};confirm=function(e){return true};prompt=function(e){return true};
diff --git a/viewer.py b/viewer.py
index aa7712e3..136a3e85 100755
--- a/viewer.py
+++ b/viewer.py
@@ -250,13 +250,13 @@ def browser_send(command, cb=lambda _: True):
         browser.process.stdin.put(command + '\n')
         while True:  # loop until cb returns True
             try:
-                event = browser.next()
+                browser_event = browser.next()
             except StopIteration:
                 break
-            if 'FOCUS_LOST' in event:
+            if 'FOCUS_LOST' in str(browser_event):
                 browser_focus_lost = True
                 break
-            if cb(event):
+            if cb(browser_event):
                 break
     else:
         logging.info('browser found dead, restarting')