diff --git a/grafana_backup/create_alert_rule.py b/grafana_backup/create_alert_rule.py
index 9a3fcde5..7b13a288 100644
--- a/grafana_backup/create_alert_rule.py
+++ b/grafana_backup/create_alert_rule.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def main(args, settings, file_path):
         uid = alert_rule['uid']
         get_response= get_alert_rule(uid, grafana_url, http_get_headers, verify_ssl, client_cert, debug)
         status_code=get_response[0]
-        print("Got a code: {0}", status_code)
+        print("Got a code: {0}".format(status_code))
         if status_code == 404:
            http_post_headers['x-disable-provenance']='*'
            result = create_alert_rule(json.dumps(alert_rule), grafana_url, http_post_headers, verify_ssl, client_cert, debug)
diff --git a/grafana_backup/dashboardApi.py b/grafana_backup/dashboardApi.py
index 8fbdaf89..2afc9b73 100755
--- a/grafana_backup/dashboardApi.py
+++ b/grafana_backup/dashboardApi.py
@@ -515,7 +515,10 @@ def send_grafana_get(url, http_get_headers, verify_ssl, client_cert, debug):
                      verify=verify_ssl, cert=client_cert)
     if debug:
         log_response(r)
-    return (r.status_code, r.json())
+    if not r.ok:
+        return (r.status_code, '{}')
+    else:
+        return (r.status_code, r.json())
 
 
 def send_grafana_post(url, json_payload, http_post_headers, verify_ssl=False, client_cert=None, debug=True):