diff --git a/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/SettingController.cs b/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/SettingController.cs
index 2c33c958..b2db2def 100644
--- a/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/SettingController.cs
+++ b/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/SettingController.cs
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ namespace Oqtane.Controllers
                     if (!authorized)
                     {
                         var visitorCookieName = Constants.VisitorCookiePrefix + _alias.SiteId.ToString();
-                        authorized = (entityId == GetVisitorCookieId(Request.Cookies[visitorCookieName]));
+                        authorized = (entityId == GetVisitorCookieId(HttpContext.Request.Cookies[visitorCookieName]));
                     }
                     break;
                 default: // custom entity
@@ -352,9 +352,14 @@ namespace Oqtane.Controllers
 
         private int GetVisitorCookieId(string visitorCookie)
         {
-            // visitor cookies contain the visitor id and an expiry date separated by a pipe symbol
-            visitorCookie = (visitorCookie.Contains("|")) ? visitorCookie.Split('|')[0] : visitorCookie;
-            return (int.TryParse(visitorCookie, out int visitorId)) ? visitorId : -1;
+            var visitorId = -1;
+            if (visitorCookie != null)
+            {
+                // visitor cookies now contain the visitor id and an expiry date separated by a pipe symbol
+                visitorCookie = (visitorCookie.Contains("|")) ? visitorCookie.Split('|')[0] : visitorCookie;
+                visitorId = int.TryParse(visitorCookie, out int _visitorId) ? _visitorId : -1;
+            }
+            return visitorId;
         }
 
         private void AddSyncEvent(string EntityName, int EntityId, int SettingId, string Action)
diff --git a/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/VisitorController.cs b/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/VisitorController.cs
index e0074452..707d2290 100644
--- a/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/VisitorController.cs
+++ b/Oqtane.Server/Controllers/VisitorController.cs
@@ -77,9 +77,14 @@ namespace Oqtane.Controllers
 
         private int GetVisitorCookieId(string visitorCookie)
         {
-            // visitor cookies contain the visitor id and an expiry date separated by a pipe symbol
-            visitorCookie = (visitorCookie.Contains("|")) ? visitorCookie.Split('|')[0] : visitorCookie;
-            return (int.TryParse(visitorCookie, out int visitorId)) ? visitorId : -1;
+            var visitorId = -1;
+            if (visitorCookie != null)
+            {
+                // visitor cookies now contain the visitor id and an expiry date separated by a pipe symbol
+                visitorCookie = (visitorCookie.Contains("|")) ? visitorCookie.Split('|')[0] : visitorCookie;
+                visitorId = int.TryParse(visitorCookie, out int _visitorId) ? _visitorId : -1;
+            }
+            return visitorId;
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/Oqtane.Server/Extensions/OqtaneServiceCollectionExtensions.cs b/Oqtane.Server/Extensions/OqtaneServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
index 3ab2d87f..32fd81ba 100644
--- a/Oqtane.Server/Extensions/OqtaneServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
+++ b/Oqtane.Server/Extensions/OqtaneServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection
                         // set the cookies to allow HttpClient API calls to be authenticated
                         foreach (var cookie in httpContextAccessor.HttpContext.Request.Cookies)
                         {
-                            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Cookie", cookie.Key + "=" + cookie.Value);
+                            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Cookie", cookie.Key + "=" + WebUtility.UrlEncode(cookie.Value));
                         }
                     }
 
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection
                     // set the cookies to allow HttpClient API calls to be authenticated
                     foreach (var cookie in httpContextAccessor.HttpContext.Request.Cookies)
                     {
-                        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Cookie", cookie.Key + "=" + cookie.Value);
+                        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Cookie", cookie.Key + "=" + WebUtility.UrlEncode(cookie.Value));
                     }
                 }
             });