diff --git a/mirror-web-server/src/auth/auth.guard.ts b/mirror-web-server/src/auth/auth.guard.ts
index ec8c0c85..c05f1e98 100644
--- a/mirror-web-server/src/auth/auth.guard.ts
+++ b/mirror-web-server/src/auth/auth.guard.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ export class AuthGuardFirebase implements CanActivate {
           req['user'] = decodedJwt
         }
       } catch (error) {
-        console.log(error)
+        this.logger.log(
+          `JWT decode error ${error as string}`,
+          AuthGuardFirebase.name
+        )
         // do nothing if decoding fails here
       }
       return true
@@ -88,14 +91,14 @@ export class AuthGuardFirebase implements CanActivate {
       } else {
         this.logger.error('JWT:', token)
       }
-      console.log('AuthGuardFirebase: error decoding jwt, returning false')
+      this.logger.log('AuthGuardFirebase: error decoding jwt, returning false')
       return false
     }
   }
 
   async decodeJwt(token) {
     return await this.firebaseAuthService.verifyIdToken(
-      token.replace('Bearer ', ''),
+      token ? token.replace('Bearer ', '') : '',
       true
     )
   }
diff --git a/mirror-web-server/src/user/user.service.ts b/mirror-web-server/src/user/user.service.ts
index 000fcde9..f3dd3b5c 100644
--- a/mirror-web-server/src/user/user.service.ts
+++ b/mirror-web-server/src/user/user.service.ts
@@ -191,18 +191,18 @@ export class UserService {
   }
 
   async ensureMirrorUserExists(token: string) {
-    const decodedToken = await this.firebaseAuthService.verifyIdToken(token)
-    const firebaseUID = decodedToken.uid
+    try {
+      const decodedToken = await this.firebaseAuthService.verifyIdToken(token)
+      const firebaseUID = decodedToken.uid
 
-    const _id = new mongo.ObjectId()
+      const _id = new mongo.ObjectId()
 
-    if (!decodedToken) {
-      throw new NotFoundException('User not found')
-    }
+      if (!decodedToken) {
+        throw new NotFoundException('User not found')
+      }
 
-    const user = await this.userModel.findOne({ firebaseUID }).exec()
+      const user = await this.userModel.findOne({ firebaseUID }).exec()
 
-    try {
       if (!user) {
         const displayName = this._generateUniqueUsername()
         const userModel = new this.userModel({