diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d8e1b2f8e..af7fde0c4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ at anytime.
 ### Added
   * scripts to autogenerate documentation
   * now updating new channel also takes into consideration the original bid amount, so now channel could be updated for wallet balance + the original bid amount
-  *
+  * forward-compaitibility for upcoming DHT bencoding changes
 
 ### Removed
   * short(single dashed) arguments for `lbrynet-cli`
diff --git a/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py b/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
index 12935af24..02703b8ef 100644
--- a/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
+++ b/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
@@ -2045,7 +2045,7 @@ class Daemon(AuthJSONRPCServer):
                 .format(MAX_UPDATE_FEE_ESTIMATE - balance))
         elif bid > max_bid_amount:
             raise InsufficientFundsError(
-                "Please lower the bid value, the maximum amount you can specify for this claim is {}"
+                "Please lower the bid. After accounting for the estimated fee, you only have {} left."
                 .format(max_bid_amount))
 
         metadata = metadata or {}
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py b/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
index 45aeb3496..9862ca0d2 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
@@ -64,16 +64,9 @@ class Bencode(Encoding):
             keys = data.keys()
             keys.sort()
             for key in keys:
-                encodedDictItems += self.encode(key)
+                encodedDictItems += self.encode(key)  # TODO: keys should always be bytestrings
                 encodedDictItems += self.encode(data[key])
             return 'd%se' % encodedDictItems
-        elif isinstance(data, float):
-            # This (float data type) is a non-standard extension to the original Bencode algorithm
-            return 'f%fe' % data
-        elif data is None:
-            # This (None/NULL data type) is a non-standard extension
-            # to the original Bencode algorithm
-            return 'n'
         else:
             print data
             raise TypeError("Cannot bencode '%s' object" % type(data))
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/msgformat.py b/lbrynet/dht/msgformat.py
index ae9cab435..7a9dd5378 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/msgformat.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/msgformat.py
@@ -43,24 +43,31 @@ class MessageTranslator(object):
 class DefaultFormat(MessageTranslator):
     """ The default on-the-wire message format for this library """
     typeRequest, typeResponse, typeError = range(3)
-    headerType, headerMsgID, headerNodeID, headerPayload, headerArgs = range(5)
+    headerType, headerMsgID, headerNodeID, headerPayload, headerArgs = range(5)  # TODO: make str
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get(primitive, key):
+        try:
+            return primitive[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            return primitive[str(key)]  # TODO: switch to int()
 
     def fromPrimitive(self, msgPrimitive):
         msgType = msgPrimitive[self.headerType]
         if msgType == self.typeRequest:
-            msg = msgtypes.RequestMessage(msgPrimitive[self.headerNodeID],
-                                          msgPrimitive[self.headerPayload],
-                                          msgPrimitive[self.headerArgs],
-                                          msgPrimitive[self.headerMsgID])
+            msg = msgtypes.RequestMessage(self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerNodeID),
+                                          self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerPayload),
+                                          self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerArgs),
+                                          self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerMsgID))
         elif msgType == self.typeResponse:
-            msg = msgtypes.ResponseMessage(msgPrimitive[self.headerMsgID],
-                                           msgPrimitive[self.headerNodeID],
-                                           msgPrimitive[self.headerPayload])
+            msg = msgtypes.ResponseMessage(self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerMsgID),
+                                           self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerNodeID),
+                                           self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerPayload))
         elif msgType == self.typeError:
-            msg = msgtypes.ErrorMessage(msgPrimitive[self.headerMsgID],
-                                        msgPrimitive[self.headerNodeID],
-                                        msgPrimitive[self.headerPayload],
-                                        msgPrimitive[self.headerArgs])
+            msg = msgtypes.ErrorMessage(self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerMsgID),
+                                        self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerNodeID),
+                                        self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerPayload),
+                                        self.get(msgPrimitive, self.headerArgs))
         else:
             # Unknown message, no payload
             msg = msgtypes.Message(msgPrimitive[self.headerMsgID], msgPrimitive[self.headerNodeID])
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py b/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
index 9e535138e..b2d3e657a 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ class KademliaProtocol(protocol.DatagramProtocol):
         except (encoding.DecodeError, ValueError):
             # We received some rubbish here
             return
-        except IndexError:
+        except (IndexError, KeyError):
             log.warning("Couldn't decode dht datagram from %s", address)
             return