diff --git a/chapters.py b/chapters.py
index bbb60eff63a6f67e5973bdbaa50620c2c3742eb0..c5573fb9ac623ac343485ca7de239b2bdd715678 100644
--- a/chapters.py
+++ b/chapters.py
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ def suggest_chapter(lectureid):
 	course = query('SELECT * FROM courses WHERE id = ?', lecture['course_id'])[0]
 	id = modify(
 		'INSERT INTO chapters (lecture_id, time, text, time_created, time_updated, created_by, submitted_by) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)',
-		lectureid, chapter_start, text, datetime.now(), datetime.now(), session.get('user', {'dbid':None})['dbid'], submitter
+		lectureid, chapter_start, text, datetime.now(), datetime.now(), session.get('user', {'dbid':None})['dbid'], submitter,
+		get_id=True
 	)
 	chapter = query('SELECT * FROM chapters WHERE id = ?', id)[0]
 	if not ismod():
diff --git a/db.py b/db.py
index d12252c9915bfb59744456448cd53a16eabc5c51..583035c9336b4f33e2406395c8fddd833da3987d 100644
--- a/db.py
+++ b/db.py
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ def query(operation, *params, delim="sep", nlfix=True):
 		try:
 			cur = get_dbcursor()
 			cur.execute(operation, params)
-		except mysql.connector.errors.InternalError as e:
-			if e.msg == 'Deadlock found when trying to get lock; try restarting transaction':
+		except Exception as e:
+			if str(e) == 'Deadlock found when trying to get lock; try restarting transaction':
 				tries += 1
 				retry = True
 			else:
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ def query(operation, *params, delim="sep", nlfix=True):
 	rows = []
 	try:
 		rows = cur.fetchall()
-	except mysql.connector.errors.InterfaceError as e:
-		if e.msg == 'No result set to fetch from.':
+	except Exception as e:
+		if str(e) == 'No result set to fetch from.' or str(e) == "the last operation didn't produce a result":
 			# no problem, we were just at the end of the result set
 			pass
 		else:
@@ -129,10 +129,12 @@ def query(operation, *params, delim="sep", nlfix=True):
 			ptr[name] = col
 	return res
 
-def modify(operation, *params):
+def modify(operation, *params, get_id=False):
 	operation, params = fix_query(operation, params)
 	cur = get_dbcursor()
 	cur.execute(operation, params)
+	if not get_id:
+		return None
 	return cur.lastrowid
 
 @app.teardown_request
diff --git a/edit.py b/edit.py
index 711e8a4704051b68c30c081d8fb8483e299b2f5d..6da7d39ff231798cd1b5512a8ec173020984dbc4 100644
--- a/edit.py
+++ b/edit.py
@@ -227,8 +227,10 @@ def create(table):
 		assert column not in defaults
 		columns.append('"'+column+'"')
 		values.append(val)
+	assert editable_tables[table]['idcolumn'] == 'id'
 	id = modify('INSERT INTO %s (%s) VALUES (%s)'%(editable_tables[table]['table'],
-				','.join(columns), ','.join(['?']*len(values))), *values)
+				','.join(columns), ','.join(['?']*len(values))), *values,
+				get_id=True)
 	if table == 'courses':
 		set_responsible(id, session['user']['dbid'], 1)
 	if 'ref' in request.values:
diff --git a/jobmanagement.py b/jobmanagement.py
index 3378ef9400d26c7fc351278a4feab472a55ea669..8f84ce5ec42f6962fdd78be01cd2a57e9458d36b 100644
--- a/jobmanagement.py
+++ b/jobmanagement.py
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ def schedule_job(jobtype, data=None, priority=0, queue="default"):
 	if not data:
 		data = {}
 	return modify('INSERT INTO jobs (type, priority, queue, data, time_created) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)',
-			jobtype, priority, queue, json.dumps(data, default=date_json_handler), datetime.now())
+			jobtype, priority, queue, json.dumps(data, default=date_json_handler), datetime.now(),
+			get_id=True)
 
 def cancel_job(job_id):
 	query('UPDATE jobs SET state = \'deleted\' WHERE id = ? AND state = \'ready\'', job_id)
diff --git a/sorter.py b/sorter.py
index a0d24c11e031eb11bfd4758ce61982a5cc4e2a3f..258b242d8b2c0d72be0451ea0ea2b29d18ece8ff 100644
--- a/sorter.py
+++ b/sorter.py
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ def insert_video(lectureid, dbfilepath, fileformatid, hash="", filesize=-1, dura
 		(lecture_id, visible, path, video_format, title, comment, internal, file_modified, time_created, time_updated, created_by, hash, file_size, duration, source)
 		VALUES 
 		(?, ?, ?, ?, '', '', '', ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)''',
-		lectureid, visible, dbfilepath, fileformatid, datetime.now(), datetime.now(), datetime.now(), -1, hash, filesize, duration, sourceid)
+		lectureid, visible, dbfilepath, fileformatid, datetime.now(), datetime.now(), datetime.now(), -1, hash, filesize, duration, sourceid,
+		get_id=True)
 	if not sourceid:
 		query('INSERT INTO sortlog (lecture_id,video_id,path,"when") VALUES (?,?,?,?)', lectureid, video_id, dbfilepath, datetime.now())
 		schedule_job('probe', {'path': dbfilepath, 'lecture_id': lectureid, 'video_id': video_id, 'import-chapters': True})