diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/OStatusPlugin.php b/plugins/OStatus/OStatusPlugin.php
index 3b073a5d13..6fef20d6f5 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/OStatusPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/OStatusPlugin.php
@@ -28,6 +28,15 @@ set_include_path(get_include_path() . PATH_SEPARATOR . dirname(__FILE__) . '/ext
 
 class FeedSubException extends Exception
 {
+    function __construct($msg=null)
+    {
+        $type = get_class($this);
+        if ($msg) {
+            parent::__construct("$type: $msg");
+        } else {
+            parent::__construct($type);
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 class OStatusPlugin extends Plugin
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/README b/plugins/OStatus/README
index 3a98b7b256..ea5dfc055f 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/README
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/README
@@ -1,18 +1,42 @@
-Plugin to support importing updates from external RSS and Atom feeds into your timeline.
+Plugin to support importing and exporting notices through Atom and RSS feeds.
+The OStatus plugin concentrates on user-to-user cases for federating StatusNet
+and similar social networking / microblogging / blogging sites, but includes
+low-level feed subscription systems which are used by some other plugins.
+
+Uses PubSubHubbub for push feed updates; currently non-PuSH feeds cannot be
+subscribed unless an external PuSH hub proxy is used.
 
-Uses PubSubHubbub for push feed updates; currently non-PuSH feeds cannot be subscribed.
 
 Configuration options available:
 
 $config['ostatus']['hub']
     (default internal hub)
-    Set to URL of an external PuSH hub to use it instead of our internal hub.
+    Set to URL of an external PuSH hub to use it instead of our internal hub
+    for sending outgoing updates in user and group feeds.
 
 $config['ostatus']['hub_retries']
     (default 0)
     Number of times to retry a PuSH send to consumers if using internal hub
 
 
+Settings controlling incoming feed subscription:
+
+$config['feedsub']['fallback_hub']
+    To subscribe to feeds that don't have a hub, an external PuSH proxy hub
+    such as Superfeedr may be used. Any feed without a hub of its own will
+    be subscribed through the specified hub URL instead. If the external hub
+    has usage charges, be aware that there is no restriction placed to how
+    many feeds may be subscribed!
+
+    $config['feedsub']['fallback_hub'] = 'https://superfeedr.com/hubbub';
+
+$config['feedsub']['hub_user']
+$config['feedsub']['hub_password']
+    If using the fallback hub mode, these settings may be used to provide
+    HTTP authentication credentials for contacting the hub. Default hubs
+    specified from feeds are assumed to not require
+
+
 For testing, shouldn't be used in production:
 
 $config['ostatus']['skip_signatures']
@@ -23,12 +47,11 @@ $config['feedsub']['nohub']
     (default require hub)
     Allow low-level feed subscription setup for feeds without hubs.
     Not actually usable at this stage, OStatus will check for hubs too
-    and we have no polling backend.
+    and we have no polling backend. (The fallback hub option can be used
+    with a 3rd-party service to provide such polling.)
 
 
 Todo:
-* fully functional l10n
-* redo non-OStatus feed support
-** rssCloud support?
-** possibly a polling daemon to support non-PuSH feeds?
+* better support for feeds that aren't natively oriented at social networking
 * make use of tags/categories from feeds
+* better repeat handling
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/classes/FeedSub.php b/plugins/OStatus/classes/FeedSub.php
index 9cd35e29c9..dd1968db12 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/classes/FeedSub.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/classes/FeedSub.php
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ class FeedSub extends Memcached_DataObject
         $discover = new FeedDiscovery();
         $discover->discoverFromFeedURL($feeduri);
 
-        $huburi = $discover->getAtomLink('hub');
-        if (!$huburi) {
+        $huburi = $discover->getHubLink();
+        if (!$huburi && !common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
             throw new FeedSubNoHubException();
         }
 
@@ -241,8 +241,12 @@ class FeedSub extends Memcached_DataObject
             common_log(LOG_WARNING, "Attempting to (re)start PuSH subscription to $this->uri in unexpected state $this->sub_state");
         }
         if (empty($this->huburi)) {
-            if (common_config('feedsub', 'nohub')) {
+            if (common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
+                // No native hub on this feed?
+                // Use our fallback hub, which handles polling on our behalf.
+            } else if (common_config('feedsub', 'nohub')) {
                 // Fake it! We're just testing remote feeds w/o hubs.
+                // We'll never actually get updates in this mode.
                 return true;
             } else {
                 throw new ServerException("Attempting to start PuSH subscription for feed with no hub");
@@ -267,8 +271,12 @@ class FeedSub extends Memcached_DataObject
             common_log(LOG_WARNING, "Attempting to (re)end PuSH subscription to $this->uri in unexpected state $this->sub_state");
         }
         if (empty($this->huburi)) {
-            if (common_config('feedsub', 'nohub')) {
+            if (common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
+                // No native hub on this feed?
+                // Use our fallback hub, which handles polling on our behalf.
+            } else if (common_config('feedsub', 'nohub')) {
                 // Fake it! We're just testing remote feeds w/o hubs.
+                // We'll never actually get updates in this mode.
                 return true;
             } else {
                 throw new ServerException("Attempting to end PuSH subscription for feed with no hub");
@@ -326,7 +334,21 @@ class FeedSub extends Memcached_DataObject
                           'hub.secret' => $this->secret,
                           'hub.topic' => $this->uri);
             $client = new HTTPClient();
-            $response = $client->post($this->huburi, $headers, $post);
+            if ($this->huburi) {
+                $hub = $this->huburi;
+            } else {
+                if (common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
+                    $hub = common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub');
+                    if (common_config('feedsub', 'hub_user')) {
+                        $u = common_config('feedsub', 'hub_user');
+                        $p = common_config('feedsub', 'hub_pass');
+                        $client->setAuth($u, $p);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    throw new FeedSubException('WTF?');
+                }
+            }
+            $response = $client->post($hub, $headers, $post);
             $status = $response->getStatus();
             if ($status == 202) {
                 common_log(LOG_INFO, __METHOD__ . ': sub req ok, awaiting verification callback');
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
index 2d7c632e63..77a5e22cc0 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
@@ -493,8 +493,14 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Memcached_DataObject
                 // OK here! assume the default
             } else if ($actor->id == $this->uri || $actor->link == $this->uri) {
                 $this->updateFromActivityObject($actor);
-            } else {
+            } else if ($actor->id) {
+                // We have an ActivityStreams actor with an explicit ID that doesn't match the feed owner.
+                // This isn't what we expect from mainline OStatus person feeds!
+                // Group feeds go down another path, with different validation.
                 throw new Exception("Got an actor '{$actor->title}' ({$actor->id}) on single-user feed for {$this->uri}");
+            } else {
+                // Plain <author> without ActivityStreams actor info.
+                // We'll just ignore this info for now and save the update under the feed's identity.
             }
 
             $oprofile = $this;
@@ -869,12 +875,12 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Memcached_DataObject
         $feeduri = $discover->discoverFromFeedURL($feed_url);
         $hints['feedurl'] = $feeduri;
 
-        $huburi = $discover->getAtomLink('hub');
+        $huburi = $discover->getHubLink();
         $hints['hub'] = $huburi;
         $salmonuri = $discover->getAtomLink(Salmon::NS_REPLIES);
         $hints['salmon'] = $salmonuri;
 
-        if (!$huburi) {
+        if (!$huburi && !common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
             // We can only deal with folks with a PuSH hub
             throw new FeedSubNoHubException();
         }
@@ -1270,10 +1276,10 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Memcached_DataObject
                 $discover = new FeedDiscovery();
                 $discover->discoverFromFeedURL($hints['feedurl']);
             }
-            $huburi = $discover->getAtomLink('hub');
+            $huburi = $discover->getHubLink();
         }
 
-        if (!$huburi) {
+        if (!$huburi && !common_config('feedsub', 'fallback_hub')) {
             // We can only deal with folks with a PuSH hub
             throw new FeedSubNoHubException();
         }
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/lib/feeddiscovery.php b/plugins/OStatus/lib/feeddiscovery.php
index 4ac2438326..a55399d7c8 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/lib/feeddiscovery.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/lib/feeddiscovery.php
@@ -87,6 +87,16 @@ class FeedDiscovery
         return ActivityUtils::getLink($this->root, $rel, $type);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the referenced PuSH hub link from an Atom feed.
+     *
+     * @return mixed string or false
+     */
+    public function getHubLink()
+    {
+        return $this->getAtomLink('hub');
+    }
+
     /**
      * @param string $url
      * @param bool $htmlOk pass false here if you don't want to follow web pages.
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/scripts/update-profile.php b/plugins/OStatus/scripts/update-profile.php
index d06de4f903..64afa0f356 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/scripts/update-profile.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/scripts/update-profile.php
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ print "Re-running feed discovery for profile URL $oprofile->uri\n";
 // @fixme will bork where the URI isn't the profile URL for now
 $discover = new FeedDiscovery();
 $feedurl = $discover->discoverFromURL($oprofile->uri);
-$huburi = $discover->getAtomLink('hub');
+$huburi = $discover->getHubLink();
 $salmonuri = $discover->getAtomLink(Salmon::NS_REPLIES);
 
 print "  Feed URL: $feedurl\n";