diff --git a/hasql-postgres.cabal b/hasql-postgres.cabal
--- a/hasql-postgres.cabal
+++ b/hasql-postgres.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name:
   hasql-postgres
 version:
-  0.7.0
+  0.7.1
 synopsis:
   A "PostgreSQL" backend for the "hasql" library
 description:
diff --git a/library/Hasql/Postgres.hs b/library/Hasql/Postgres.hs
--- a/library/Hasql/Postgres.hs
+++ b/library/Hasql/Postgres.hs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
     }
   connect p =
     do
-      r <- runEitherT $ Connector.open settings
+      r <- Connector.open settings
       c <- either (\e -> throwIO $ Backend.CantConnect $ fromString $ show e) return r
       Connection <$> pure c <*> StatementPreparer.new c <*> newIORef Nothing <*> getIntegerDatetimes c
     where
diff --git a/library/Hasql/Postgres/Connector.hs b/library/Hasql/Postgres/Connector.hs
--- a/library/Hasql/Postgres/Connector.hs
+++ b/library/Hasql/Postgres/Connector.hs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Builder as BB
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Builder.ASCII as BB
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BL
+import qualified Data.Text as T
 import qualified Data.Text.Encoding as TE
 
 
@@ -19,52 +20,51 @@
   }
 
 
--- |
--- Default settings.
-settings :: Settings
-settings =
-  Settings "127.0.0.1" 5432 "postgres" "" ""
-
-
 data Error =
   BadStatus (Maybe ByteString) |
   UnsupportedVersion Int
-  deriving (Show, Typeable)
+  deriving (Show)
 
 
 -- |
 -- Establish and initialize a connection.
-open :: Settings -> EitherT Error IO PQ.Connection
+open :: Settings -> IO (Either Error PQ.Connection)
 open s =
-  do
+  runEitherT $ do
     c <- lift $ PQ.connectdb (settingsBS s)
     do
       s <- lift $ PQ.status c
-      when (s /= PQ.ConnectionOk) $ 
-        do
-          m <- lift $ PQ.errorMessage c
-          left $ BadStatus m
+      when (s /= PQ.ConnectionOk) $ do
+        m <- lift $ PQ.errorMessage c
+        left $ BadStatus m
     do
       v <- lift $ PQ.serverVersion c
       when (v < 80200) $ left $ UnsupportedVersion v
-    lift $ PQ.exec c $ mconcat $ map (<> ";") $ 
+    lift $ PQ.exec c $ BL.toStrict $ BB.toLazyByteString $ mconcat $ map (<> BB.char7 ';') $ 
       [ 
-        "SET client_encoding = 'UTF8'",
-        "SET client_min_messages TO WARNING"
+        BB.string7 "SET client_encoding = 'UTF8'",
+        BB.string7 "SET client_min_messages TO WARNING"
       ]
     return c
 
 
 settingsBS :: Settings -> ByteString
 settingsBS s =
-  BL.toStrict $ BB.toLazyByteString $ 
-  mconcat $ intersperse (BB.char7 ' ') args
-  where
-    args =
-      [
-        BB.string7 "host="     <> BB.byteString (host s),
-        BB.string7 "port="     <> BB.word16Dec (port s),
-        BB.string7 "user="     <> BB.byteString (TE.encodeUtf8 (user s)),
-        BB.string7 "password=" <> BB.byteString (TE.encodeUtf8 (password s)),
-        BB.string7 "dbname="   <> BB.byteString (TE.encodeUtf8 (database s))
-      ]
+  BL.toStrict $ BB.toLazyByteString $ mconcat $ intersperse (BB.char7 ' ') $ catMaybes $
+  [
+    mappend (BB.string7 "host=") . BB.byteString <$> 
+    partial (not . B.null) (host s)
+    ,
+    mappend (BB.string7 "port=") . BB.word16Dec <$> 
+    partial (/= 0) (port s)
+    ,
+    mappend (BB.string7 "user=") . BB.byteString . TE.encodeUtf8 <$> 
+    partial (not . T.null) (user s)
+    ,
+    mappend (BB.string7 "password=") . BB.byteString . TE.encodeUtf8 <$> 
+    partial (not . T.null) (password s)
+    ,
+    mappend (BB.string7 "dbname=") . BB.byteString . TE.encodeUtf8 <$> 
+    partial (not . T.null) (database s)
+  ]
+
diff --git a/library/Hasql/Postgres/Mapping.hs b/library/Hasql/Postgres/Mapping.hs
--- a/library/Hasql/Postgres/Mapping.hs
+++ b/library/Hasql/Postgres/Mapping.hs
@@ -288,8 +288,8 @@
           {-# INLINE arrayEncode #-}
           arrayEncode e x =
             Array.fromSingleton (Just ($encoder e x))
-                                    (False)
-                                    (PTI.oidWord32 (PTI.ptiOID $pti))
+                                (False)
+                                (PTI.oidWord32 (PTI.ptiOID $pti))
           {-# INLINE arrayDecode #-}
           arrayDecode e =
             \case
diff --git a/library/Hasql/Postgres/ResultParser.hs b/library/Hasql/Postgres/ResultParser.hs
--- a/library/Hasql/Postgres/ResultParser.hs
+++ b/library/Hasql/Postgres/ResultParser.hs
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@
 erroneousResultText =
   \case
     NoResult (Just bs) -> 
-      Just $ "Inable to send command to the server due to: " <> Text.decodeLatin1 bs
+      Just $ "Unable to send command to the server due to: " <> Text.decodeLatin1 bs
     NoResult Nothing -> 
-      Just $ "Inable to send command to the server"
+      Just $ "Unable to send command to the server"
     StatusError status code message details hint ->
       Just $ 
         "A status error. " <> formatFields fields