diff --git a/lib/frenzy/pipeline/scrape_stage.ex b/lib/frenzy/pipeline/scrape_stage.ex
index 823ae4c..653ee63 100644
--- a/lib/frenzy/pipeline/scrape_stage.ex
+++ b/lib/frenzy/pipeline/scrape_stage.ex
@@ -18,11 +18,10 @@ defmodule Frenzy.Pipeline.ScrapeStage do
 
   @impl Stage
   def validate_opts(opts) when is_map(opts) do
-    # todo: figure out why this errors when an empty map is provided
     opts =
       case opts["extractor"] do
         nil ->
-          {:ok, %{opts | extractor: "builtin"}}
+          {:ok, Map.put(opts, "extractor", "builtin")}
 
         extractor when not is_binary(extractor) ->
           {:error, "extractor must be a string"}
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ defmodule Frenzy.Pipeline.ScrapeStage do
       {:ok, opts} ->
         case opts["convert_to_data_uris"] do
           nil ->
-            {:ok, %{opts | convert_to_data_uris: true}}
+            {:ok, Map.put(opts, "convert_to_data_uris", true)}
 
           value when is_boolean(value) ->
             {:ok, opts}
diff --git a/lib/frenzy_web/controllers/pipeline_controller.ex b/lib/frenzy_web/controllers/pipeline_controller.ex
index 3ed33fa..6c72ff5 100644
--- a/lib/frenzy_web/controllers/pipeline_controller.ex
+++ b/lib/frenzy_web/controllers/pipeline_controller.ex
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ defmodule FrenzyWeb.PipelineController do
     else
       {:error, reason} ->
         conn
-        |> put_flash(:error, "Unable to edit pipeline: #{inspect(reason)}")
+        |> put_flash(:error, "Unable to edit pipeline: #{reason}")
         |> render("edit.html", %{
           pipeline: pipeline,
           name: name,
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ defmodule FrenzyWeb.PipelineController do
           {:cont, {:ok, new_stages ++ [stage]}}
 
         {:error, reason} ->
-          {:error, "invalid stage at #{index}: #{reason}"}
+          {:halt, {:error, "invalid stage at index #{index}: #{reason}"}}
       end
     end)
   end