diff --git a/classes/Queue_item.php b/classes/Queue_item.php
index ce7762646d..0d6fd56af2 100644
--- a/classes/Queue_item.php
+++ b/classes/Queue_item.php
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class Queue_item extends Managed_DataObject
     /**
      * Release a claimed item.
      */
-    function releaseCLaim()
+    function releaseClaim()
     {
         // DB_DataObject doesn't let us save nulls right now
         $sql = sprintf("UPDATE queue_item SET claimed=NULL WHERE id=%d", $this->id);
diff --git a/lib/dbqueuemanager.php b/lib/dbqueuemanager.php
index f843d6d9e6..45c4b694d2 100644
--- a/lib/dbqueuemanager.php
+++ b/lib/dbqueuemanager.php
@@ -73,54 +73,57 @@ class DBQueueManager extends QueueManager
     {
         //$this->_log(LOG_DEBUG, 'Checking for notices...');
         $qi = Queue_item::top($this->activeQueues());
-        if (empty($qi)) {
+        if (!$qi instanceof Queue_item) {
             //$this->_log(LOG_DEBUG, 'No notices waiting; idling.');
             return false;
         }
 
-        $queue = $qi->transport;
         try {
             $item = $this->decode($qi->frame);
         } catch (Exception $e) {
-            $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[$queue] Discarding: ".$e->getMessage());
+            $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[{$qi->transport}] Discarding: ".$e->getMessage());
             $this->_done($qi);
             return true;
         }
 
         $rep = $this->logrep($item);
-        $this->_log(LOG_DEBUG, "Got $rep for transport $queue");
+        $this->_log(LOG_DEBUG, "Got {$rep} for transport {$qi->transport}");
         
-        $handler = $this->getHandler($queue);
+        $handler = $this->getHandler($qi->transport);
         if ($handler) {
             if ($handler->handle($item)) {
-                $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[$queue:$rep] Successfully handled item");
+                $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[{$qi->transport}:$rep] Successfully handled item");
                 $this->_done($qi);
             } else {
-                $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[$queue:$rep] Failed to handle item");
+                $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[{$qi->transport}:$rep] Failed to handle item");
                 $this->_fail($qi);
             }
         } else {
-            $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[$queue:$rep] No handler for queue $queue; discarding.");
-            $this->_done($qi);
+            $this->noHandlerFound($qi, $rep);
         }
         return true;
     }
 
+    // What to do if no handler was found. For example, the OpportunisticQM
+    // should avoid deleting items just because it can't reach XMPP queues etc.
+    protected function noHandlerFound(Queue_item $qi, $rep=null) {
+        $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "[{$qi->transport}:{$rep}] No handler for queue {$qi->transport}; discarding.");
+        $this->_done($qi);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Delete our claimed item from the queue after successful processing.
      *
      * @param QueueItem $qi
      */
-    protected function _done($qi)
+    protected function _done(Queue_item $qi)
     {
-        $queue = $qi->transport;
-
         if (empty($qi->claimed)) {
-            $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "Reluctantly releasing unclaimed queue item $qi->id from $qi->queue");
+            $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "Reluctantly releasing unclaimed queue item {$qi->id} from {$qi->transport}");
         }
         $qi->delete();
 
-        $this->stats('handled', $queue);
+        $this->stats('handled', $qi->transport);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -129,16 +132,16 @@ class DBQueueManager extends QueueManager
      *
      * @param QueueItem $qi
      */
-    protected function _fail($qi)
+    protected function _fail(Queue_item $qi, $releaseOnly=false)
     {
-        $queue = $qi->transport;
-
         if (empty($qi->claimed)) {
-            $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "[$queue:item $qi->id] Ignoring failure for unclaimed queue item");
+            $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "[{$qi->transport}:item {$qi->id}] Ignoring failure for unclaimed queue item");
         } else {
             $qi->releaseClaim();
         }
 
-        $this->stats('error', $queue);
+        if (!$releaseOnly) {
+            $this->stats('error', $qi->transport);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/OpportunisticQM/lib/opportunisticqueuemanager.php b/plugins/OpportunisticQM/lib/opportunisticqueuemanager.php
index 6356afcd08..4b2b679b58 100644
--- a/plugins/OpportunisticQM/lib/opportunisticqueuemanager.php
+++ b/plugins/OpportunisticQM/lib/opportunisticqueuemanager.php
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ class OpportunisticQueueManager extends DBQueueManager
         return true;
     }
 
+    // OpportunisticQM shouldn't discard items it can't handle, we're
+    // only here to take care of what we _can_ handle!
+    protected function noHandlerFound(Queue_item $qi, $rep=null) {
+        $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "[{$qi->transport}:item {$qi->id}] Releasing claim for queue item without a handler");
+        $this->_fail($qi, true);    // true here means "releaseOnly", so no error statistics since it's not an _error_
+    }
+
     /**
      * Takes care of running through the queue items, returning when
      * the limits setup in __construct are met.