diff --git a/client/dbclient.cpp b/client/dbclient.cpp
index b4b7fb8..6584020 100644
--- a/client/dbclient.cpp
+++ b/client/dbclient.cpp
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ namespace mongo {
         
         string ns = db + ".system.namespaces";
         auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> c = query( ns.c_str() , BSONObj() );
-        while ( c->more() ){
+        while ( c.get() && c->more() ){
             string name = c->next()["name"].valuestr();
             if ( name.find( "$" ) != string::npos )
                 continue;
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> c(  
               this->query(ns, query, 0, 0, fieldsToReturn, (int) QueryOption_Exhaust) );
 
-            while( 1 ) { 
+            while( c.get() ) {
                 while( c->moreInCurrentBatch() ) { 
                     BSONObj o = c->nextSafe();
                     f(o);
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ namespace mongo {
     void DBClientWithCommands::reIndex( const string& ns ){
         list<BSONObj> all;
         auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> i = getIndexes( ns );
-        while ( i->more() ){
+        while ( i.get() && i->more() ){
             all.push_back( i->next().getOwned() );
         }
         
diff --git a/client/gridfs.cpp b/client/gridfs.cpp
index b2ae478..a648363 100644
--- a/client/gridfs.cpp
+++ b/client/gridfs.cpp
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ namespace mongo {
 
     void GridFS::removeFile( const string& fileName ){
         auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> files = _client.query( _filesNS , BSON( "filename" << fileName ) );
-        while (files->more()){
+        while (files.get() && files->more()){
             BSONObj file = files->next();
             BSONElement id = file["_id"];
             _client.remove( _filesNS.c_str() , BSON( "_id" << id ) );
diff --git a/client/parallel.cpp b/client/parallel.cpp
index c39ecab..e86633b 100644
--- a/client/parallel.cpp
+++ b/client/parallel.cpp
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ namespace mongo {
         
         auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> cursor = 
             conn->query( _ns , q , num , 0 , ( _fields.isEmpty() ? 0 : &_fields ) , _options );
+        if ( !cursor.get() ) {
+            return cursor;
+        }
         
         if ( cursor->hasResultFlag( QueryResult::ResultFlag_ShardConfigStale ) ){
             conn.done();
diff --git a/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp b/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
index 6524363..9a861d7 100644
--- a/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
+++ b/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ namespace mongo {
 
     bool SyncClusterConnection::_commandOnActive(const string &dbname, const BSONObj& cmd, BSONObj &info, int options ){
         auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> cursor = _queryOnActive( dbname + ".$cmd" , cmd , 1 , 0 , 0 , options , 0 );
-        if ( cursor->more() )
+        if ( cursor.get() && cursor->more() )
             info = cursor->next().copy();
         else
             info = BSONObj();