diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Magicsig.php b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Magicsig.php
index b240dfd098..7c249920a9 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Magicsig.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Magicsig.php
@@ -143,9 +143,9 @@ class Magicsig extends Managed_DataObject
      * Warning: this can be very slow on systems without the GMP module.
      * Runtimes of 20-30 seconds are not unheard-of.
      *
-     * @param int $user_id id of local user we're creating a key for
+     * @param User $user the local user (since we don't have remote private keys)
      */
-    public function generate($user_id, $bits=1024)
+    public function generate(User $user, $bits=1024)
     {
         $rsa = new Crypt_RSA();
 
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ class Magicsig extends Managed_DataObject
         $this->publicKey = new Crypt_RSA();
         $this->publicKey->loadKey($keypair['publickey']);
 
-        $this->user_id = $user_id;
+        $this->user_id = $user->id;
         $this->insert();
     }
 
@@ -179,25 +179,6 @@ class Magicsig extends Managed_DataObject
         return 'RSA.' . $mod . '.' . $exp . $private_exp;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Decode a string representation of an RSA public key or keypair
-     * as a Magicsig object which can be used to sign or verify.
-     *
-     * @param string $text
-     * @return Magicsig
-     */
-    public static function fromString($text)
-    {
-        $magic_sig = new Magicsig();
-
-        // remove whitespace
-        $text = preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $text);
-        $magic_sig->importKeys($text);
-
-        // Please note this object will be missing the user_id field
-        return $magic_sig;
-    }
-
     /**
      * importKeys will load the object's keypair string, which initiates
      * loadKey() and configures Crypt_RSA objects.
@@ -206,10 +187,10 @@ class Magicsig extends Managed_DataObject
      */
     public function importKeys($keypair=null)
     {
-        $keypair = $keypair ?: $this->keypair;
+        $this->keypair = $keypair===null ? $this->keypair : preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $keypair);
 
         // parse components
-        if (!preg_match('/RSA\.([^\.]+)\.([^\.]+)(\.([^\.]+))?/', $keypair, $matches)) {
+        if (!preg_match('/RSA\.([^\.]+)\.([^\.]+)(\.([^\.]+))?/', $this->keypair, $matches)) {
             common_debug('Magicsig error: RSA key not found in provided string.');
             throw new ServerException('RSA key not found in keypair string.');
         }
@@ -241,7 +222,7 @@ class Magicsig extends Managed_DataObject
         common_log(LOG_DEBUG, "Adding ".$type." key: (".$mod .', '. $exp .")");
 
         $rsa = new Crypt_RSA();
-        $rsa->signatureMode = CRYPT_RSA_SIGNATURE_PKCS1;
+        $rsa->setSignatureMode(CRYPT_RSA_SIGNATURE_PKCS1);
         $rsa->setHash($this->getHash());
         $rsa->modulus = new Math_BigInteger(Magicsig::base64_url_decode($mod), 256);
         $rsa->k = strlen($rsa->modulus->toBytes());
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
index c8f79346f8..bead2b068e 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/classes/Ostatus_profile.php
@@ -289,17 +289,8 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Managed_DataObject
      * @param string  $verb   Activity::SUBSCRIBE or Activity::JOIN
      * @param Object  $object object of the action; must define asActivityNoun($tag)
      */
-    public function notify($actor, $verb, $object=null, $target=null)
+    public function notify(Profile $actor, $verb, $object=null, $target=null)
     {
-        if (!($actor instanceof Profile)) {
-            $type = gettype($actor);
-            if ($type == 'object') {
-                $type = get_class($actor);
-            }
-            // TRANS: Server exception.
-            // TRANS: %1$s is the method name the exception occured in, %2$s is the actor type.
-            throw new ServerException(sprintf(_m('Invalid actor passed to %1$s: %2$s.'),__METHOD__,$type));
-        }
         if ($object == null) {
             $object = $this;
         }
@@ -340,8 +331,7 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Managed_DataObject
         $xml = $entry->getString();
         common_log(LOG_INFO, "Posting to Salmon endpoint $this->salmonuri: $xml");
 
-        $salmon = new Salmon();
-        $salmon->post($this->salmonuri, $xml, $actor);
+        Salmon::post($this->salmonuri, $xml, $actor->getUser());
     }
 
     /**
@@ -355,8 +345,7 @@ class Ostatus_profile extends Managed_DataObject
     public function notifyActivity($entry, Profile $actor)
     {
         if ($this->salmonuri) {
-            $salmon = new Salmon();
-            return $salmon->post($this->salmonuri, $this->notifyPrepXml($entry), $actor);
+            return Salmon::post($this->salmonuri, $this->notifyPrepXml($entry), $actor->getUser());
         }
         common_debug(__CLASS__.' error: No salmonuri for Ostatus_profile uri: '.$this->uri);
 
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php b/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
index cd5efc0359..84ba2ba296 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
@@ -324,25 +324,21 @@ class MagicEnvelope
      * on some systems.
      *
      * @param string $text XML fragment to sign, assumed to be Atom
-     * @param Profile $actor Profile of a local user to use as signer
+     * @param User $user User who cryptographically signs $text
      *
      * @return string XML string representation of magic envelope
      *
      * @throws Exception on bad profile input or key generation problems
      * @fixme if signing fails, this seems to return the original text without warning. Is there a reason for this?
      */
-    public static function signForProfile($text, Profile $actor)
+    public static function signAsUser($text, User $user)
     {
-        // We only generate keys for our local users of course, so let
-        // getUser throw an exception if the profile is not local.
-        $user = $actor->getUser();
-
         // Find already stored key
         $magicsig = Magicsig::getKV('user_id', $user->id);
         if (!$magicsig instanceof Magicsig) {
             // No keypair yet, let's generate one.
             $magicsig = new Magicsig();
-            $magicsig->generate($user->id);
+            $magicsig->generate($user);
         }
 
         $magic_env = self::signMessage($text, 'application/atom+xml', $magicsig);
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmon.php b/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmon.php
index 4e02c56c71..7f685665fa 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmon.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmon.php
@@ -43,18 +43,18 @@ class Salmon
      *
      * @param string $endpoint_uri
      * @param string $xml string representation of payload
-     * @param Profile $actor local user profile whose keys to sign with
+     * @param User $user local user profile whose keys we sign with
      * @return boolean success
      */
-    public function post($endpoint_uri, $xml, Profile $actor)
+    public static function post($endpoint_uri, $xml, User $user)
     {
         if (empty($endpoint_uri)) {
-            common_debug('No endpoint URI for Salmon post to '.$actor->getUri());
+            common_debug('No endpoint URI for Salmon post to '.$user->getUri());
             return false;
         }
 
         try {
-            $magic_env = MagicEnvelope::signForProfile($xml, $actor);
+            $magic_env = MagicEnvelope::signAsUser($xml, $user);
             $envxml = $magic_env->toXML();
         } catch (Exception $e) {
             common_log(LOG_ERR, "Salmon unable to sign: " . $e->getMessage());
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class Salmon
         }
         if ($response->getStatus() != 200) {
             common_log(LOG_ERR, sprintf('Salmon (from profile %d) endpoint %s returned status %s: %s',
-                                $actor->id, $endpoint_uri, $response->getStatus(), $response->getBody()));
+                                $user->id, $endpoint_uri, $response->getStatus(), $response->getBody()));
             return false;
         }
 
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmonqueuehandler.php b/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmonqueuehandler.php
index 3b98a34a87..334dc14549 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmonqueuehandler.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/lib/salmonqueuehandler.php
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ class SalmonQueueHandler extends QueueHandler
 
         $actor = Profile::getKV($data['actor']);
 
-        $salmon = new Salmon();
-        $salmon->post($data['salmonuri'], $data['entry'], $actor);
+        Salmon::post($data['salmonuri'], $data['entry'], $actor->getUser());
 
         // @fixme detect failure and attempt to resend
         return true;
diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/tests/slap.php b/plugins/OStatus/tests/slap.php
index afaa6810a1..e3f5439aed 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/tests/slap.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/tests/slap.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ echo "== Original entry ==\n\n";
 print $entry;
 print "\n\n";
 
-$magic_env = MagicEnvelope::signForProfile($entry, $profile);
+$magic_env = MagicEnvelope::signAsUser($entry, $profile->getUser());
 $envxml = $magic_env->toXML();
 
 echo "== Signed envelope ==\n\n";
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ print "\n\n";
 echo "== Testing local verification ==\n\n";
 $magic_env = new MagicEnvelope($envxml);
 $activity = new Activity($magic_env->getPayload()->documentElement);
-$profile = Profile::fromUri($activity->actor->id);
-$ok = $magic_env->verify($profile);
+$actprofile = Profile::fromUri($activity->actor->id);
+$ok = $magic_env->verify($actprofile);
 if ($ok) {
     print "OK\n\n";
 } else {
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ if (have_option('--slap')) {
     echo "== Remote salmon slap ==\n\n";
     print "Sending signed Salmon slap to $url ...\n";
 
-    $ok = $salmon->post($url, $entry, $profile);
+    $ok = Salmon::post($url, $entry, $profile->getUser());
     if ($ok) {
         print "OK\n\n";
     } else {