diff --git a/damus/Nostr/NostrEvent.swift b/damus/Nostr/NostrEvent.swift
index 84072cce..ca99b24b 100644
--- a/damus/Nostr/NostrEvent.swift
+++ b/damus/Nostr/NostrEvent.swift
@@ -370,6 +370,7 @@ func decode_nostr_event(txt: String) -> NostrResponse? {
 
 func encode_json<T: Encodable>(_ val: T) -> String? {
     let encoder = JSONEncoder()
+    encoder.outputFormatting = .withoutEscapingSlashes
     return (try? encoder.encode(val)).map { String(decoding: $0, as: UTF8.self) }
 }
 
diff --git a/damus/Nostr/RelayConnection.swift b/damus/Nostr/RelayConnection.swift
index 3f3454e1..db1d9f55 100644
--- a/damus/Nostr/RelayConnection.swift
+++ b/damus/Nostr/RelayConnection.swift
@@ -118,10 +118,9 @@ func make_nostr_req(_ req: NostrRequest) -> String? {
 }
 
 func make_nostr_push_event(ev: NostrEvent) -> String? {
-    let encoder = JSONEncoder()
-    encoder.outputFormatting = .withoutEscapingSlashes
-    let event_data = try! encoder.encode(ev)
-    let event = String(decoding: event_data, as: UTF8.self)
+    guard let event = encode_json(ev) else {
+        return nil
+    }
     let encoded = "[\"EVENT\",\(event)]"
     print(encoded)
     return encoded
diff --git a/damus/Util/Zap.swift b/damus/Util/Zap.swift
index 5b868d67..8bf3171d 100644
--- a/damus/Util/Zap.swift
+++ b/damus/Util/Zap.swift
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ func fetch_zap_invoice(_ payreq: LNUrlPayRequest, zapreq: NostrEvent, amount: In
     
     if zappable {
         if let json = encode_json(zapreq) {
+            print("zapreq json: \(json)")
             query.append(URLQueryItem(name: "nostr", value: json))
         }
     }