diff --git a/buildserver/buildserver.py b/buildserver/buildserver.py
index 82cb24ac7..ebd039cdc 100644
--- a/buildserver/buildserver.py
+++ b/buildserver/buildserver.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def build_image(build_dir, tag_name, num_steps, result_object):
   except Exception as e:
     logger.exception('Exception when processing request.')
     result_object['status'] = 'error'
-    result_object['message'] = e.message
+    result_object['message'] = str(e.message)
 
 
 MIME_PROCESSORS = {
diff --git a/workers/dockerfilebuild.py b/workers/dockerfilebuild.py
index 2f7aea2da..5112145b0 100644
--- a/workers/dockerfilebuild.py
+++ b/workers/dockerfilebuild.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def retry_command(to_call, args=[], kwargs={}, retries=5, period=5):
 
 
 def get_status(url):
-  return requests.get(url).json()['status']
+  return retry_command(requests.get, [url]).json()['status']
 
 
 def babysit_builder(request):
@@ -112,8 +112,10 @@ def babysit_builder(request):
     ssh_client = paramiko.SSHClient()
     ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
 
+    logger.debug('Connecting to droplet through ssh at ip: %s' %
+                 droplet.ip_address)
     retry_command(ssh_client.connect, [droplet.ip_address, 22, 'root'],
-                  {'look_for_keys': False, 
+                  {'look_for_keys': False, 'timeout': 10.0,
                    'key_filename': app.config['DO_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_FILENAME']})
 
     # Load the node with the pull token