diff --git a/src/openapi_server/apis/reading_api.py b/src/openapi_server/apis/reading_api.py
index 5f94199..65ac904 100644
--- a/src/openapi_server/apis/reading_api.py
+++ b/src/openapi_server/apis/reading_api.py
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ def unpack_list(xpath_list):
     ), f"There should only be one response, but there were {len(xpath_list)}: \n {xpath_list}"
     if xpath_list:
         return xpath_list[0]
-    else:
-        return None
+    return None
 
 
 @router.get(
diff --git a/src/openapi_server/apis/utils.py b/src/openapi_server/apis/utils.py
index a3260b8..cc84a37 100644
--- a/src/openapi_server/apis/utils.py
+++ b/src/openapi_server/apis/utils.py
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ def error_response(e):
             namespaces={"mlerror": "http://marklogic.com/xdmp/error"},
         )[0]
         raise HTTPException(status_code=e.status_code, detail=error_message)
-    elif isinstance(e, MarklogicAPIError):
+
+    if isinstance(e, MarklogicAPIError):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=e.status_code, detail=e.default_message)
-    else:
-        # presumably a Python error, not a Marklogic one
-        logging.exception(
-            "A Python error in the privileged API occurred whilst making a request to Marklogic",
-        )
-        raise HTTPException(
-            status_code=500,
-            detail="An unknown error occurred outside of Marklogic.",
-        )
+
+    logging.exception(
+        "A Python error in the privileged API occurred whilst making a request to Marklogic",
+    )
+    raise HTTPException(
+        status_code=500,
+        detail="An unknown error occurred outside of Marklogic.",
+    )