diff --git a/gui/qt/main_window.py b/gui/qt/main_window.py
index c3ca22c18..67f4b7a4c 100644
--- a/gui/qt/main_window.py
+++ b/gui/qt/main_window.py
@@ -689,6 +689,9 @@ class ElectrumWindow(QMainWindow):
         for item in self.wallet.get_history(self.current_account):
             tx_hash, conf, value, timestamp, balance = item
             time_str = _("unknown")
+            if conf is None and timestamp is None:
+                continue  # skip history in offline mode
+
             if conf > 0:
                 time_str = self.format_time(timestamp)
             if conf == -1:
diff --git a/lib/wallet.py b/lib/wallet.py
index 74230e84b..33a7279bc 100644
--- a/lib/wallet.py
+++ b/lib/wallet.py
@@ -744,7 +744,8 @@ class Abstract_Wallet(object):
             #balance += value
             conf, timestamp = self.verifier.get_confirmations(tx_hash) if self.verifier else (None, None)
             history.append( (tx_hash, conf, value, timestamp) )
-        history.sort(key = lambda x: self.verifier.get_txpos(x[0]))
+        if self.verifier:
+            history.sort(key = lambda x: self.verifier.get_txpos(x[0]))
 
         c, u = self.get_balance(domain)
         balance = c + u
diff --git a/plugins/openalias.py b/plugins/openalias.py
index d9e5612a4..4e50bbe57 100644
--- a/plugins/openalias.py
+++ b/plugins/openalias.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ class Plugin(BasePlugin):
             try:
                 resolver = dns.resolver.Resolver()
                 resolver.timeout = 2.0
-                resolver.lifetime = 2.0
+                resolver.lifetime = 4.0
                 records = resolver.query(url, dns.rdatatype.TXT)
                 for record in records:
                     string = record.strings[0]
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ class Plugin(BasePlugin):
         for i in xrange(len(parts), 0, -1):
             sub = '.'.join(parts[i - 1:])
             query = dns.message.make_query(sub, dns.rdatatype.NS)
-            response = dns.query.udp(query, ns, 1)
+            response = dns.query.udp(query, ns, 3)
             if response.rcode() != dns.rcode.NOERROR:
                 self.print_error("query error")
                 return 0
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ class Plugin(BasePlugin):
             query = dns.message.make_query(sub,
                                            dns.rdatatype.DNSKEY,
                                            want_dnssec=True)
-            response = dns.query.udp(query, ns, 1)
+            response = dns.query.udp(query, ns, 3)
             if response.rcode() != 0:
                 self.print_error("query error")
                 return 0