diff --git a/pylint.rc b/pylint.rc
index 2a920e83c..4fea7cb20 100644
--- a/pylint.rc
+++ b/pylint.rc
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ disable=
     no-member,
     no-self-use,
     non-parent-init-called,
-    not-a-mapping,
     not-callable,
     possibly-unused-variable,
     protected-access,
diff --git a/wcs/wscalls.py b/wcs/wscalls.py
index 0aa3243a1..d985cf463 100644
--- a/wcs/wscalls.py
+++ b/wcs/wscalls.py
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ class NamedWsCall(XmlStorableObject):
             cache=True,
             notify_on_errors=self.notify_on_errors,
             record_on_errors=self.record_on_errors,
-            **self.request,
+            **(self.request or {}),
         )[2]
         return json_loads(data)