diff --git a/earwigbot/__init__.py b/earwigbot/__init__.py
index a9e7ed3..c08b2ac 100644
--- a/earwigbot/__init__.py
+++ b/earwigbot/__init__.py
@@ -37,18 +37,19 @@ __email__ = "ben.kurtovic@verizon.net"
 __release__ = False
 
 if not __release__:
-    def _add_git_commit_id_to_version_string(version):
+    def _get_git_commit_id():
+        """Return the ID of the git HEAD commit."""
         from git import Repo
         from os.path import split, dirname
         path = split(dirname(__file__))[0]
         commit_id = Repo(path).head.object.hexsha
-        return version + ".git+" + commit_id[:8]
+        return commit_id[:8]
     try:
-        __version__ = _add_git_commit_id_to_version_string(__version__)
+        __version__ += ".git+" + _get_git_commit_id()
     except Exception:
         pass
     finally:
-        del _add_git_commit_id_to_version_string
+        del _get_git_commit_id
 
 from earwigbot import bot
 from earwigbot import commands
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py b/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
index 0642ad4..8511d35 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 from urllib import quote_plus
 
 from earwigbot import exceptions
-from earwigbot import wiki
 from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
 
         try:
             count = user.editcount
-        except earwigbot.UserNotFoundError:
+        except exceptions.UserNotFoundError:
             msg = "the user \x0302{0}\x0301 does not exist."
             self.reply(data, msg.format(name))
             return
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/registration.py b/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
index de54e94..929bd90 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 import time
 
 from earwigbot import exceptions
-from earwigbot import wiki
 from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/rights.py b/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
index 1f6b671..70897f9 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 # SOFTWARE.
 
 from earwigbot import exceptions
-from earwigbot import wiki
 from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/managers.py b/earwigbot/managers.py
index 71184ae..1d13a0e 100644
--- a/earwigbot/managers.py
+++ b/earwigbot/managers.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class _ResourceManager(object):
         """
         f, path, desc = imp.find_module(name, [path])
         try:
-             module = imp.load_module(name, f, path, desc)
+            module = imp.load_module(name, f, path, desc)
         except Exception:
             e = "Couldn't load module {0} (from {1})"
             self.logger.exception(e.format(name, path))
diff --git a/earwigbot/tasks/__init__.py b/earwigbot/tasks/__init__.py
index 2ecbbce..236914c 100644
--- a/earwigbot/tasks/__init__.py
+++ b/earwigbot/tasks/__init__.py
@@ -107,9 +107,9 @@ class BaseTask(object):
         Otherwise, we'll use our default site.
         """
         if not site:
-            try:
-                site = self.site
-            except AttributeError:
+            if hasattr(self, "site"):
+                site = getattr(self, "site")
+            else:
                 site = self.bot.wiki.get_site()
 
         try:
diff --git a/earwigbot/tasks/afc_history.py b/earwigbot/tasks/afc_history.py
index 2e95b67..d5e63d0 100644
--- a/earwigbot/tasks/afc_history.py
+++ b/earwigbot/tasks/afc_history.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class Task(BaseTask):
     def update(self, num_days):
         self.logger.info("Updating past {0} days".format(num_days))
         generator = self.backwards_cat_iterator()
-        for d in xrange(num_days):
+        for i in xrange(num_days):
             category = generator.next()
             date = category.title.split("/")[-1]
             self.update_date(date, category)
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class Task(BaseTask):
         self.logger.info("Generating chart for past {0} days".format(num_days))
         data = OrderedDict()
         generator = self.backwards_cat_iterator()
-        for d in xrange(num_days):
+        for i in xrange(num_days):
             category = generator.next()
             date = category.title.split("/")[-1]
             data[date] = self.get_date_counts(date)
diff --git a/earwigbot/wiki/page.py b/earwigbot/wiki/page.py
index a9bb5af..f31e379 100644
--- a/earwigbot/wiki/page.py
+++ b/earwigbot/wiki/page.py
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class Page(CopyrightMixin):
         if prefix != title:  # ignore a page that's titled "Category" or "User"
             try:
                 self._namespace = self._site.namespace_name_to_id(prefix)
-            except NamespaceNotFoundError:
+            except exceptions.NamespaceNotFoundError:
                 self._namespace = 0
         else:
             self._namespace = 0
@@ -191,10 +191,10 @@ class Page(CopyrightMixin):
         Assuming the API is sound, this should not raise any exceptions.
         """
         if not result:
-            params = {"action": "query", "rvprop": "user", "intoken": "edit",
-                      "prop": "info|revisions", "rvlimit": 1, "rvdir": "newer",
-                      "titles": self._title, "inprop": "protection|url"}
-            result = self._site._api_query(params)
+            query = self._site.api_query
+            result = query(action="query", rvprop="user", intoken="edit",
+                           prop="info|revisions", rvlimit=1, rvdir="newer",
+                           titles=self._title, inprop="protection|url")
 
         res = result["query"]["pages"].values()[0]
 
@@ -255,9 +255,9 @@ class Page(CopyrightMixin):
         want to force content reloading.
         """
         if not result:
-            params = {"action": "query", "prop": "revisions", "rvlimit": 1,
-                      "rvprop": "content|timestamp", "titles": self._title}
-            result = self._site._api_query(params)
+            query = self._site.api_query
+            result = query(action="query", prop="revisions", rvlimit=1,
+                           rvprop="content|timestamp", titles=self._title)
 
         res = result["query"]["pages"].values()[0]
         try:
@@ -302,8 +302,8 @@ class Page(CopyrightMixin):
 
         # Try the API query, catching most errors with our handler:
         try:
-            result = self._site._api_query(params)
-        except SiteAPIError as error:
+            result = self._site.api_query(**params)
+        except exceptions.SiteAPIError as error:
             if not hasattr(error, "code"):
                 raise  # We can only handle errors with a code attribute
             result = self._handle_edit_errors(error, params, tries)
@@ -609,10 +609,10 @@ class Page(CopyrightMixin):
         if self._exists == 0:
             # Kill two birds with one stone by doing an API query for both our
             # attributes and our page content:
-            params = {"action": "query", "rvlimit": 1, "titles": self._title,
-                      "prop": "info|revisions", "inprop": "protection|url",
-                      "intoken": "edit", "rvprop": "content|timestamp"}
-            result = self._site._api_query(params)
+            query = self._site.api_query
+            result = query(action="query", rvlimit=1, titles=self._title,
+                           prop="info|revisions", inprop="protection|url",
+                           intoken="edit", rvprop="content|timestamp")
             self._load_attributes(result=result)
             self._assert_existence()
             self._load_content(result=result)
diff --git a/earwigbot/wiki/site.py b/earwigbot/wiki/site.py
index 42204cf..946ab57 100644
--- a/earwigbot/wiki/site.py
+++ b/earwigbot/wiki/site.py
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ class Site(object):
         self._wait_between_queries = wait_between_queries
         self._max_retries = 5
         self._last_query_time = 0
+        self._api_lock = Lock()
 
         # Attributes used for SQL queries:
         self._sql_data = sql
@@ -278,7 +279,7 @@ class Site(object):
             return self._api_query(params, tries=tries, wait=wait*3)
         else:  # Some unknown error occurred
             e = 'API query failed: got error "{0}"; server says: "{1}".'
-            error = earwigbot.SiteAPIError(e.format(code, info))
+            error = exceptions.SiteAPIError(e.format(code, info))
             error.code, error.info = code, info
             raise error
 
@@ -297,17 +298,16 @@ class Site(object):
         attrs = [self._name, self._project, self._lang, self._base_url,
             self._article_path, self._script_path]
 
-        params = {"action": "query", "meta": "siteinfo"}
+        params = {"action": "query", "meta": "siteinfo", "siprop": "general"}
 
         if not self._namespaces or force:
-            params["siprop"] = "general|namespaces|namespacealiases"
-            result = self._api_query(params)
+            params["siprop"] += "|namespaces|namespacealiases"
+            result = self.api_query(**params)
             self._load_namespaces(result)
         elif all(attrs):  # Everything is already specified and we're not told
             return        # to force a reload, so do nothing
         else:  # We're only loading attributes other than _namespaces
-            params["siprop"] = "general"
-            result = self._api_query(params)
+            result = self.api_query(**params)
 
         res = result["query"]["general"]
         self._name = res["wikiid"]
@@ -402,8 +402,7 @@ class Site(object):
         username argument) when cookie lookup fails, probably indicating that
         we are logged out.
         """
-        params = {"action": "query", "meta": "userinfo"}
-        result = self._api_query(params)
+        result = self.api_query(action="query", meta="userinfo")
         return result["query"]["userinfo"]["name"]
 
     def _get_username(self):
@@ -456,12 +455,14 @@ class Site(object):
         loop if MediaWiki isn't acting right.
         """
         name, password = login
-        params = {"action": "login", "lgname": name, "lgpassword": password}
         if token:
-            params["lgtoken"] = token
-        result = self._api_query(params)
-        res = result["login"]["result"]
+            result = self.api_query(action="login", lgname=name,
+                                    lgpassword=password, lgtoken=token)
+        else:
+            result = self.api_query(action="login", lgname=name,
+                                    lgpassword=password)
 
+        res = result["login"]["result"]
         if res == "Success":
             self._save_cookiejar()
         elif res == "NeedToken" and attempt == 0:
@@ -487,8 +488,7 @@ class Site(object):
         cookiejar (which probably contains now-invalidated cookies) and try to
         save it, if it supports that sort of thing.
         """
-        params = {"action": "logout"}
-        self._api_query(params)
+        self.api_query(action="logout")
         self._cookiejar.clear()
         self._save_cookiejar()
 
@@ -574,7 +574,8 @@ class Site(object):
         There is helpful MediaWiki API documentation at `MediaWiki.org
         <http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API>`_.
         """
-        return self._api_query(kwargs)
+        with self._api_lock:
+            return self._api_query(kwargs)
 
     def sql_query(self, query, params=(), plain_query=False, dict_cursor=False,
                   cursor_class=None, show_table=False):
diff --git a/earwigbot/wiki/user.py b/earwigbot/wiki/user.py
index f234155..d271592 100644
--- a/earwigbot/wiki/user.py
+++ b/earwigbot/wiki/user.py
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ class User(object):
         Normally, this is called by _get_attribute() when a requested attribute
         is not defined. This defines it.
         """
-        params = {"action": "query", "list": "users", "ususers": self._name,
-                  "usprop": "blockinfo|groups|rights|editcount|registration|emailable|gender"}
-        result = self._site._api_query(params)
+        props = "blockinfo|groups|rights|editcount|registration|emailable|gender"
+        result = self._site.api_query(action="query", list="users",
+                                      ususers=self._name, usprop=props)
         res = result["query"]["users"][0]
 
         # normalize our username in case it was entered oddly