diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c09cd7c3..386a04aa 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
           </archive>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
-    
+
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -131,11 +131,14 @@
           </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
-      
+
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
         <version>3.3.0</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <skipTests>true</skipTests>
+        </configuration>
       </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </build>
@@ -173,7 +176,8 @@
       <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
       <artifactId>javafx-graphics</artifactId>
       <version>${javafx.version}</version>
-    </dependency> 
+    </dependency>
+
     <dependency>
       <groupId>jakarta.xml.bind</groupId>
       <artifactId>jakarta.xml.bind-api</artifactId>
@@ -239,7 +243,7 @@
       <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
       <version>2.17.0</version>
-    </dependency> 
+    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>log4j-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/Const.java b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/Const.java
index 5d724623..db0e7a40 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/Const.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/Const.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public final class Const
   public static final String
 
     HDB_DEFAULT_FILENAME = "database.hdb",
+    BLANK_DB_RESOURCE_NAME = "resources/blank_db.zip",
 
     PREF_KEY_SETTINGS_VERSION = "settingsVersion",
     PREF_KEY_NOTIFY_USER_NOT_LINKED = "notifyUnlinked",
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/dialogs/LockedDlgCtrlr.java b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/dialogs/LockedDlgCtrlr.java
index 22578c3a..bcbc3b66 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/dialogs/LockedDlgCtrlr.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/dialogs/LockedDlgCtrlr.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 import javafx.scene.control.Label;
 import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.exception.ExceptionUtils;
 import org.hypernomicon.HyperTask.HyperThread;
 import org.hypernomicon.InterComputerMsg;
 import org.hypernomicon.util.DesktopUtil;
@@ -130,19 +129,17 @@ else if (sentMsg.getType() == hmtEchoRequest)
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-  public LockedDlgCtrlr(String title, Throwable e)
+  public LockedDlgCtrlr(String title, String text)
   {
     super("LockedDlg", title, true);
 
     otherHostName = "";
     otherCompName = "";
 
-    String stacktrace = ExceptionUtils.getStackTrace(e);
-
-    taOutput.setText(stacktrace);
+    taOutput.setText(text);
 
     btnTryTerminate.setText("Copy to Clipboard");
-    btnTryTerminate.setOnAction(event -> copyToClipboard(stacktrace));
+    btnTryTerminate.setOnAction(event -> copyToClipboard(text));
 
     setAllVisible(false, btnTryComm, btnOverride, btnStop, lblSeconds);
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/UIUtil.java b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/UIUtil.java
index a4af5c72..13ce3039 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/UIUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/UIUtil.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import javafx.beans.value.ObservableDoubleValue;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.exception.ExceptionUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.mutable.MutableBoolean;
 import org.controlsfx.control.MasterDetailPane;
 import org.hypernomicon.dialogs.LockedDlgCtrlr;
@@ -634,12 +635,20 @@ private static void scalePropertiesForDPI(DoubleProperty... props)
     }
   }
 
+//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  public static void showLongMessage(String title, String text)
+  {
+    new LockedDlgCtrlr(title, text).showModal();
+  }
+
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
   public static void showStackTrace(Throwable e)
   {
-    new LockedDlgCtrlr("Error", e).showModal();
+    showLongMessage("Error", ExceptionUtils.getStackTrace(e));
   }
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/Util.java b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/Util.java
index 870eed97..cba58bb9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/Util.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/util/Util.java
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 import org.hypernomicon.HyperTask.HyperThread;
 import org.hypernomicon.util.filePath.FilePath;
 
+import static org.hypernomicon.Const.*;
+
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -40,9 +42,11 @@
 import java.nio.file.AccessDeniedException;
 import java.nio.file.FileSystemException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.security.CodeSource;
 import java.security.DigestOutputStream;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
+import java.security.ProtectionDomain;
 import java.text.NumberFormat;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
@@ -67,6 +71,8 @@
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
+import java.util.jar.JarInputStream;
+import java.util.jar.Manifest;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -779,14 +785,44 @@ public static String convertToEnglishCharsWithMap(String input, List<Integer> po
 
   public static String manifestValue(String key)
   {
-    URL url = App.class.getResource("/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF");
+    URL jarUrl;
 
-    if (url != null) try
+    try
+    {
+      jarUrl = nullSwitch(nullSwitch(App.class.getProtectionDomain(), null, ProtectionDomain::getCodeSource), null, CodeSource::getLocation);
+
+      if (jarUrl != null)
+      {
+        try (InputStream jarStream = jarUrl.openStream())
+        {
+          if (jarStream != null) try (JarInputStream jis = new JarInputStream(jarStream))
+          {
+            Manifest manifest = jis.getManifest();
+
+            return manifest == null ? "" : nullSwitch(manifest.getMainAttributes(), "", attributes -> safeStr(attributes.getValue(key)));
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    catch (SecurityException | IOException e)
     {
-      URLConnection c = url.openConnection();
+      noOp();
+    }
+
+    // Security exception likely happened so try less reliable method
 
-      if (c instanceof JarURLConnection jarURLConnection)
-        return safeStr(nullSwitch(jarURLConnection.getManifest(), "", manifest -> manifest.getMainAttributes().getValue(key)));
+    jarUrl = App.class.getResource(BLANK_DB_RESOURCE_NAME);  // Get the URL for a resource that will only exist in the Hypernomicon jar file.
+                                                             // Most jar files will have META-INF/MANIFEST.MF so we are likely to get the
+    if (jarUrl != null) try                                  // wrong URL if we search for that resource name (even though it is the one we
+    {                                                        // really want, from the Hypernomicon jar file).
+      URLConnection conn = jarUrl.openConnection();
+
+      if (conn instanceof JarURLConnection jarURLConnection)
+      {
+        Manifest manifest = jarURLConnection.getManifest();
+
+        return manifest == null ? "" : nullSwitch(manifest.getMainAttributes(), "", attributes -> safeStr(attributes.getValue(key)));
+      }
     }
     catch (IOException e) { noOp(); }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/view/MainCtrlr.java b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/view/MainCtrlr.java
index 6c6e68e9..95497c59 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/view/MainCtrlr.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hypernomicon/view/MainCtrlr.java
@@ -1695,7 +1695,7 @@ private boolean createNewDB(FilePath rootPath)
     {
       FilePath srcFilePath = null;
 
-      try (ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(App.class.getResourceAsStream("resources/blank_db.zip")))
+      try (ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(App.class.getResourceAsStream(BLANK_DB_RESOURCE_NAME)))
       {
         ZipEntry entry;
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hypernomicon/NewDBTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hypernomicon/NewDBTest.java
index 1935c40a..39cc4cd7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hypernomicon/NewDBTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hypernomicon/NewDBTest.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class NewDBTest
   @Test
   void newDBTemplateTest()
   {
-    try (ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(App.class.getResourceAsStream("resources/blank_db.zip")))
+    try (ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(App.class.getResourceAsStream(BLANK_DB_RESOURCE_NAME)))
     {
       ZipEntry entry;