diff --git a/emailage.gemspec b/emailage.gemspec
index afab9cb..e5f1e2a 100644
--- a/emailage.gemspec
+++ b/emailage.gemspec
@@ -26,6 +26,5 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency "redcarpet", "~> 3.3"
 
   spec.add_dependency "typhoeus", "~> 1.0"
-  spec.add_dependency "uuid", "~> 2.3"
   spec.add_dependency "json", "~> 2.3"
 end
diff --git a/lib/emailage/client.rb b/lib/emailage/client.rb
index b3f9839..f975c89 100644
--- a/lib/emailage/client.rb
+++ b/lib/emailage/client.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require 'typhoeus'
-require 'uuid'
+require 'securerandom'
 require 'json'
 
 module Emailage
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ class Client
     attr_reader :secret, :token, :hmac_key, :sandbox
     attr_accessor :raise_errors
   
+    class EmailageError < StandardError; end
+    class TemporaryError < EmailageError; end
+
     # @param secret [String] Consumer secret, e.g. SID or API key.
     # @param token  [String] Consumer OAuth token.
     # @param sandbox [Boolean] Whether to use a sandbox instead of a production server.
@@ -38,16 +41,19 @@ def request(endpoint, params)
       params = {
         :format => 'json', 
         :oauth_consumer_key => @secret,
-        :oauth_nonce => UUID.new.generate,
+        :oauth_nonce => SecureRandom.uuid,
         :oauth_signature_method => 'HMAC-SHA1',
         :oauth_timestamp => Time.now.to_i,
         :oauth_version => 1.0
       }.merge(params)
       
       res = Typhoeus.get url, :params => params.merge(:oauth_signature => Signature.create('GET', url, params, @hmac_key))
-      
       json = res.body.sub(/^[^{]+/, '')
-      JSON.parse json
+      if res.code == 200
+        return JSON.parse json
+      elsif json.empty?
+        raise TemporaryError
+      end
     end
     
     public
diff --git a/spec/client_spec.rb b/spec/client_spec.rb
index d469b86..b6f04f0 100644
--- a/spec/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/client_spec.rb
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
   let(:t) {spy :typhoeus}
   let(:email) {'test+emailage@example.com'}
   let(:ip) {'1.234.56.7'}
-  
+  let(:response) { double :response, :body => "\xEF\xBB\xBF{\"success\":[true]}", :code => 200 }
+
   before {
-    allow(t).to receive(:get) {double :response, :body => "\xEF\xBB\xBF{\"success\":[true]}"}
+    allow(t).to receive(:get) { response }
     stub_const 'Typhoeus', t
   }
   
@@ -33,6 +34,14 @@
     it 'parses response body as JSON' do
       expect(request).to eq 'success' => [true]
     end
+
+    context 'empty string returned' do
+      let(:response) { double :response, :body => "", :code => 503 }
+
+      it 'raises TemporaryError' do
+        expect { request }.to raise_error(described_class::TemporaryError)
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe '#query' do