diff --git a/tildetown-py/stats.py b/tildetown-py/stats.py
index 3e95e37..ac79a30 100644
--- a/tildetown-py/stats.py
+++ b/tildetown-py/stats.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def get_data():
     data = {'generated_at': datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'),
             'site_name': 'tilde.town',
             'site_url': 'http://tilde.town',
-            'uptime': str(uptime('-p')),}
+            'uptime': str(uptime('-p')).rstrip(),}
 
     data.update(user_data)
     return data
diff --git a/tildetown-py/util.py b/tildetown-py/util.py
index 7f29993..a1b2447 100644
--- a/tildetown-py/util.py
+++ b/tildetown-py/util.py
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ def slurp(file_path):
     except FileNotFoundError:
         pass
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        return contents
+        pass
+    return contents
 
 def thread(initial, *fns):
     value = initial