diff --git a/fireworks/core/firework.py b/fireworks/core/firework.py
index 69405d084..7368fa39c 100644
--- a/fireworks/core/firework.py
+++ b/fireworks/core/firework.py
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ def _update_state_history(self, state) -> None:
             now_time = datetime.utcnow()
             new_history_entry = {"state": state, "created_on": now_time}
             if state != "COMPLETED" and last_checkpoint:
-                new_history_entry.update({"checkpoint": last_checkpoint})
+                new_history_entry.update(checkpoint=last_checkpoint)
             self.state_history.append(new_history_entry)
             if state in ["RUNNING", "RESERVED"]:
                 self.touch_history()  # add updated_on key
diff --git a/fireworks/core/launchpad.py b/fireworks/core/launchpad.py
index 5350de9e3..02a9fb43b 100644
--- a/fireworks/core/launchpad.py
+++ b/fireworks/core/launchpad.py
@@ -898,7 +898,7 @@ def future_run_exists(self, fworker=None) -> bool:
             return True
         # retrieve all [RUNNING/RESERVED] fireworks
         q = fworker.query if fworker else {}
-        q.update({"state": {"$in": ["RUNNING", "RESERVED"]}})
+        q.update(state={"$in": ["RUNNING", "RESERVED"]})
         active = self.get_fw_ids(q)
         # then check if they have WAITING children
         for fw_id in active:
@@ -1670,7 +1670,7 @@ def rerun_fw(self, fw_id, rerun_duplicates=True, recover_launch=None, recover_mo
         # Launch recovery
         if recover_launch is not None:
             recovery = self.get_recovery(fw_id, recover_launch)
-            recovery.update({"_mode": recover_mode})
+            recovery.update(_mode=recover_mode)
             set_spec = recursive_dict({"$set": {"spec._recovery": recovery}})
             if recover_mode == "prev_dir":
                 prev_dir = self.get_launch_by_id(recovery.get("_launch_id")).launch_dir
@@ -1714,7 +1714,7 @@ def get_recovery(self, fw_id, launch_id="last"):
         m_fw = self.get_fw_by_id(fw_id)
         launch = m_fw.launches[-1] if launch_id == "last" else self.get_launch_by_id(launch_id)
         recovery = launch.state_history[-1].get("checkpoint")
-        recovery.update({"_prev_dir": launch.launch_dir, "_launch_id": launch.launch_id})
+        recovery.update(_prev_dir=launch.launch_dir, _launch_id=launch.launch_id)
         return recovery
 
     def _refresh_wf(self, fw_id) -> None:
diff --git a/fireworks/features/stats.py b/fireworks/features/stats.py
index c381e64d6..402e5ef6b 100644
--- a/fireworks/features/stats.py
+++ b/fireworks/features/stats.py
@@ -197,8 +197,8 @@ def group_fizzled_fireworks(
             "created_on": self._query_datetime_range(start_time=query_start, end_time=query_end, **args),
         }
         if include_ids:
-            project_query.update({"fw_id": 1})
-            group_query.update({"fw_id": {"$push": "$fw_id"}})
+            project_query.update(fw_id=1)
+            group_query.update(fw_id={"$push": "$fw_id"})
         if query:
             match_query.update(query)
         return self._aggregate(
@@ -306,11 +306,11 @@ def _get_summary(
             }
         match_query.update(query)
         if runtime_stats:
-            project_query.update({"runtime_secs": 1})
+            project_query.update(runtime_secs=1)
             group_query.update(RUNTIME_STATS)
         if include_ids:
             project_query.update({id_field: 1})
-            group_query.update({"ids": {"$push": "$" + id_field}})
+            group_query.update(ids={"$push": "$" + id_field})
         return self._aggregate(
             coll=coll,
             match=match_query,
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ def _aggregate(
         for arg in [match, project, unwind, group_op]:
             if arg is None:
                 arg = {}
-        group_op.update({"_id": "$" + group_by})
+        group_op.update(_id=f"${group_by}")
         if sort is None:
             sort_query = ("_id", 1)
         query = [{"$match": match}, {"$project": project}, {"$group": group_op}, {"$sort": SON([sort_query])}]
diff --git a/fireworks/queue/queue_launcher.py b/fireworks/queue/queue_launcher.py
index 3a271a9b2..e7d461abc 100644
--- a/fireworks/queue/queue_launcher.py
+++ b/fireworks/queue/queue_launcher.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def launch_rocket_to_queue(
 
                 # update qadapter job_name based on FW name
                 job_name = get_slug(fw.name)[0:QUEUE_JOBNAME_MAXLEN]
-                qadapter.update({"job_name": job_name})
+                qadapter.update(job_name=job_name)
 
                 if "_queueadapter" in fw.spec:
                     l_logger.debug("updating queue params using Firework spec..")
diff --git a/fireworks/user_objects/queue_adapters/common_adapter.py b/fireworks/user_objects/queue_adapters/common_adapter.py
index 6e1380b25..259d6ada7 100644
--- a/fireworks/user_objects/queue_adapters/common_adapter.py
+++ b/fireworks/user_objects/queue_adapters/common_adapter.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ def __init__(self, q_type, q_name=None, template_file=None, timeout=None, **kwar
         )
         self.q_name = q_name or q_type
         self.timeout = timeout or 5
-        self.update(dict(kwargs))
+        self.update(kwargs)
 
         self.q_commands = copy.deepcopy(CommonAdapter.default_q_commands)
         if "_q_commands_override" in self: