diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Middleware/WGAccess.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Middleware/WGAccess.pm
index a51fed001d..686c2a8281 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Middleware/WGAccess.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Middleware/WGAccess.pm
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ sub call {
         else {
             $privs = JSON->new->utf8->decode($contents);
         }
+        # in some cases there is nothing but state; default each list to an empty array
+        $privs->{user} ||= [ ];
+        $privs->{groups} ||= [ ];
+        $privs->{assets} ||= [ ];
 
         return @$r = (403, [ 'Content-Type' => 'text/plain' ], [ 'Forbidden' ])
             if $privs->{state} eq 'trash';
diff --git a/t/Asset/EMSSubmissionForm.t b/t/Asset/EMSSubmissionForm.t
index f81a6b2d26..57df258664 100644
--- a/t/Asset/EMSSubmissionForm.t
+++ b/t/Asset/EMSSubmissionForm.t
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ $sub1 = $sub1->cloneFromDb;
 diag $sub1->submissionStatus;
 diag $sub1->ticketId;
 diag $sub1->getRevisionCount;
-is( $sub1->get('submissionStatus'),'created','approval successfull');
+is( $sub1->get('submissionStatus'),'approved','approval successfull');
 
 my $ticket = eval { WebGUI::Asset->newById($session, $sub1->get('ticketId')); };
 my $e = Exception::Class->caught();
diff --git a/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey.t b/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey.t
index 0b615412f0..3af842adde 100644
--- a/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey.t
+++ b/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey.t
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ my $session = WebGUI::Test->session;
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Tests
-plan tests => 53;
+plan tests => 57;
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # put your tests here
diff --git a/t/Group/ldap_groups.t b/t/Group/ldap_groups.t
index 998fe4cb8e..a6cbe6987f 100644
--- a/t/Group/ldap_groups.t
+++ b/t/Group/ldap_groups.t
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@ use lib "$FindBin::Bin/../lib";
 
 use WebGUI::Test;
 use WebGUI::Session;
-use WebGUI::Utility;
 
 use WebGUI::User;
 use WebGUI::Group;
-use WebGUI::Cache;
 
 use Test::More skip_all => 'Disabled until the test LDAP server is rejuvenated';
 use Test::Deep;