diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 0aea977b464..31727ad0d73 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -2,16 +2,15 @@ pkgplugindir =		$(pkglibdir)/plugin
 INCLUDES =              -I$(top_srcdir)/include -I$(top_builddir)/include \
 			-I$(top_srcdir)/regex -I$(top_srcdir)/sql
 
-EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES =	feedback.la
+EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES =	feedback.la libfeedback.la
 pkgplugin_LTLIBRARIES =	@plugin_feedback_shared_target@
 feedback_la_LDFLAGS =   -module -rpath $(pkgplugindir)
 feedback_la_CXXFLAGS =  -shared -DMYSQL_DYNAMIC_PLUGIN
 feedback_la_SOURCES =   feedback.cc utils.cc url_base.cc url_http.cc \
 			sender_thread.cc
 
-EXTRA_LIBRARIES =	libfeedback.a
-noinst_LIBRARIES =	@plugin_feedback_static_target@
-libfeedback_a_SOURCES=	feedback.cc utils.cc url_base.cc url_http.cc \
+noinst_LTLIBRARIES =	@plugin_feedback_static_target@
+libfeedback_la_SOURCES=	feedback.cc utils.cc url_base.cc url_http.cc \
 			sender_thread.cc
 
 noinst_HEADERS = 	feedback.h
diff --git a/plug.in b/plug.in
index 0c93fef2327..409a35c8f9a 100644
--- a/plug.in
+++ b/plug.in
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@ dnl Unfortunately, feedback cannot be built dynamically on Windows, because it
 dnl needs to access server internals that aren't designed for plugin use and
 dnl aren't marked with MYSQL_PLUGIN_IMPORT.
 MYSQL_PLUGIN_DYNAMIC([feedback], [feedback.la])
-MYSQL_PLUGIN_STATIC(feedback, [libfeedback.a])
+ifelse(index(AC_PACKAGE_NAME, [MariaDB]), -1, [], [
+
+dnl MariaDB and MySQL define static plugins differently.
+dnl I only support MariaDB here, for now.
+MYSQL_PLUGIN_STATIC(feedback, [libfeedback.la])
+
+])
 
 MYSQL_PLUGIN_ACTIONS(feedback, [
   AC_CHECK_HEADERS([netdb.h sys/utsname.h])
diff --git a/sender_thread.cc b/sender_thread.cc
index 813690b8819..86627add808 100644
--- a/sender_thread.cc
+++ b/sender_thread.cc
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ static my_thread_id thd_thread_id; ///< its thread_id
 
 static size_t needed_size= 20480;
 
-static const time_t next_interval=  60*60*24*7; ///< in seconds (one week)
+static const time_t startup_interval= 60*5;     ///< in seconds (5 minutes)
 static const time_t first_interval= 60*60*24;   ///< in seconds (one day)
+static const time_t interval= 60*60*24*7;       ///< in seconds (one week)
 
 /**
   reads the rows from a table and puts them, concatenated, in a String
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ static bool going_down()
 /**
   just like sleep, but waits on a condition and checks "plugin shutdown" status
 */
-static int delay(time_t sec)
+static int slept_ok(time_t sec)
 {
   struct timespec abstime;
   int ret= 0;
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ static int delay(time_t sec)
     ret= pthread_cond_timedwait(&sleep_condition, &sleep_mutex, &abstime);
   pthread_mutex_unlock(&sleep_mutex);
 
-  return going_down();
+  return !going_down();
 }
 
 /**
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ static void send_report(const char *when)
     }
     if (last_todo < 0)
       break;
-  } while (delay(send_retry_wait) == 0); // wait a little bit before retrying
+  } while (slept_ok(send_retry_wait)); // wait a little bit before retrying
 
 ret:
   if (thd)
@@ -269,8 +270,6 @@ ret:
 */
 pthread_handler_t background_thread(void *arg __attribute__((unused)))
 {
-  time_t interval;
-
   if (my_thread_init())
     return 0;
 
@@ -278,12 +277,20 @@ pthread_handler_t background_thread(void *arg __attribute__((unused)))
   thd_thread_id= thread_id++;
   pthread_mutex_unlock(&LOCK_thread_count);
 
-  send_report("startup");
+  if (slept_ok(startup_interval))
+  {
+    send_report("startup");
 
-  for (interval= first_interval; delay(interval) == 0; interval= next_interval)
-    send_report(NULL);
+    if (slept_ok(first_interval))
+    {
+      send_report(NULL);
 
-  send_report("shutdown");
+      while(slept_ok(interval))
+        send_report(NULL);
+    }
+
+    send_report("shutdown");
+  }
 
   my_thread_end();
   pthread_exit(0);
diff --git a/url_http.cc b/url_http.cc
index efe987327d3..de2877b0274 100644
--- a/url_http.cc
+++ b/url_http.cc
@@ -28,11 +28,6 @@
 
 namespace feedback {
 
-static const char   *http= "http://";
-static const size_t  http_len= 7;
-static const char   *https= "https://";
-static const size_t  https_len= 8;
-
 static const uint FOR_READING= 0;
 static const uint FOR_WRITING= 1;
 
@@ -88,13 +83,13 @@ Url* http_create(const char *url, size_t url_length)
   LEX_STRING host, port, path;
   bool ssl= false;
 
-  if (is_prefix(url, http))
-    s= url + http_len;
+  if (is_prefix(url, "http://"))
+    s= url + 7;
 #ifdef HAVE_OPENSSL
-  else if (is_prefix(url, https))
+  else if (is_prefix(url, "https://"))
   {
     ssl= true;
-    s= url + https_len;
+    s= url + 8;
   }
 #endif
   else