diff --git a/common/basecomponent/base.go b/common/basecomponent/base.go
index 8f074a129..432819a23 100644
--- a/common/basecomponent/base.go
+++ b/common/basecomponent/base.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ed25519"
 
@@ -70,13 +71,22 @@ func NewBaseDendrite(cfg *config.Dendrite, componentName string) *BaseDendrite {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Panicf("failed to start opentracing")
 	}
 
-	kafkaConsumer, kafkaProducer := setupKafka(cfg)
+	var kafkaConsumer sarama.Consumer
+	var kafkaProducer sarama.SyncProducer
+	if cfg.Kafka.UseNaffka {
+		kafkaConsumer, kafkaProducer = setupNaffka(cfg)
+	} else {
+		kafkaConsumer, kafkaProducer = setupKafka(cfg)
+	}
+
+	const defaultHTTPTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
 	return &BaseDendrite{
 		componentName: componentName,
 		tracerCloser:  closer,
 		Cfg:           cfg,
 		APIMux:        mux.NewRouter().UseEncodedPath(),
+		httpClient:    &http.Client{Timeout: defaultHTTPTimeout},
 		KafkaConsumer: kafkaConsumer,
 		KafkaProducer: kafkaProducer,
 	}
@@ -210,13 +220,8 @@ func (b *BaseDendrite) SetupAndServeHTTP(bindaddr string, listenaddr string) {
 	logrus.Infof("Stopped %s server on %s", b.componentName, addr)
 }
 
-// setupKafka creates kafka consumer/producer pair from the config. Checks if
-// should use naffka.
+// setupKafka creates kafka consumer/producer pair from the config.
 func setupKafka(cfg *config.Dendrite) (sarama.Consumer, sarama.SyncProducer) {
-	if cfg.Kafka.UseNaffka {
-		return setupNaffka(cfg)
-	}
-
 	consumer, err := sarama.NewConsumer(cfg.Kafka.Addresses, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Panic("failed to start kafka consumer")
@@ -232,35 +237,35 @@ func setupKafka(cfg *config.Dendrite) (sarama.Consumer, sarama.SyncProducer) {
 
 // setupNaffka creates kafka consumer/producer pair from the config.
 func setupNaffka(cfg *config.Dendrite) (sarama.Consumer, sarama.SyncProducer) {
-	var sqlDB *sql.DB
+	var err error
+	var db *sql.DB
 	var naffkaDB *naffka.DatabaseImpl
+
 	uri, err := url.Parse(string(cfg.Database.Naffka))
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+	if err != nil || uri.Scheme == "file" {
+		db, err = sql.Open(common.SQLiteDriverName(), string(cfg.Database.Naffka))
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to open naffka database")
+		}
+
+		naffkaDB, err = naffka.NewSqliteDatabase(db)
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to setup naffka database")
+		}
+	} else {
+		db, err = sql.Open("postgres", string(cfg.Database.Naffka))
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to open naffka database")
+		}
+
+		naffkaDB, err = naffka.NewPostgresqlDatabase(db)
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to setup naffka database")
+		}
 	}
-	switch uri.Scheme {
-	case "file":
-		sqlDB, err = sql.Open(common.SQLiteDriverName(), string(cfg.Database.Naffka))
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to open naffka database")
-		}
 
-		naffkaDB, err = naffka.NewSqliteDatabase(sqlDB)
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to setup naffka database")
-		}
-	case "postgres":
-		fallthrough
-	default:
-		sqlDB, err = sql.Open("postgres", string(cfg.Database.Naffka))
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to open naffka database")
-		}
-
-		naffkaDB, err = naffka.NewPostgresqlDatabase(sqlDB)
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).Panic("Failed to setup naffka database")
-		}
+	if naffkaDB == nil {
+		panic("naffka connection string not understood")
 	}
 
 	naff, err := naffka.New(naffkaDB)