diff --git a/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/libs/home_assistant.py b/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/libs/home_assistant.py
index afd700fc..6caa5102 100644
--- a/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/libs/home_assistant.py
+++ b/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/libs/home_assistant.py
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ def execute_script(entity_name: str, domain: str, service: str, service_data: di
             ]
         }
         send_message(json.dumps(msg))
-        # busy waiting for response with a timeout of 0.2 seconds - maybe there's a better way of doing this
+        # busy waiting for response with a timeout of 0.4 seconds- maybe there's a better way of doing this
         mustend = time.time() + 0.4
         while time.time() < mustend:
             if response_buffer[call_id] == True:
diff --git a/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/panel.py b/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/panel.py
index 84177a35..37f33800 100644
--- a/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/panel.py
+++ b/nspanel-lovelace-ui/rootfs/usr/bin/mqtt-manager/panel.py
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ class LovelaceUIPanel:
         ha_control.wait_for_ha_cache()
 
         #request templates on cards
-        if self.settings.get("sleepBrightness").startswith("ha:"):
+        if isinstance(self.settings.get("sleepBrightness",""), str) and self.settings.get("sleepBrightness", "").startswith("ha:"):
             libs.home_assistant.cache_template(self.settings.get("sleepBrightness"))
-        if self.settings.get("screenBrightness").startswith("ha:"):
+        if isinstance(self.settings.get("sleepBrightness",""), str) and self.settings.get("screenBrightness", "").startswith("ha:"):
             libs.home_assistant.cache_template(self.settings.get("screenBrightness"))
         for c in self.cards.values():
             if hasattr(c, "qrcode"):