diff --git a/help/index.php b/help/index.php
index 34e8b5f..5baec56 100644
--- a/help/index.php
+++ b/help/index.php
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ include(BASE."include/"."incl.php");
 
 $help_path = $apidb_root."/help";
 
-if($topic)
+if($_GET['topic'])
 {
-    display_help($topic);
+    display_help($_GET['topic']);
 } else {
     display_index();    
 }
diff --git a/stdquery.php b/stdquery.php
index 3f3d2d0..3e25ffa 100644
--- a/stdquery.php
+++ b/stdquery.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ if(loggedin())
 
 
 // create $vars object
-$vars = $HTTP_GET_VARS;
+$vars = $_GET;
 $qc = new qclass();
 $qc->process($vars);
 $query = $qc->get_query();