diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/UtilMethods.java b/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/UtilMethods.java
index 8920e45019..c1a00bd378 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/UtilMethods.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/UtilMethods.java
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
 @Slf4j
 public class UtilMethods {
   public static String getUserName(Object principal, String preferredUsername) {
-    if (principal instanceof DefaultOAuth2User) {
-      DefaultOAuth2User defaultOAuth2User = (DefaultOAuth2User) principal;
+    if (principal instanceof DefaultOAuth2User defaultOAuth2User) {
       return (String) defaultOAuth2User.getAttributes().get(preferredUsername);
     } else if (principal instanceof String) {
       return (String) principal;
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/db/rdbms/InsertDataJdbc.java b/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/db/rdbms/InsertDataJdbc.java
index c972253900..57a7cb6395 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/db/rdbms/InsertDataJdbc.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/aiven/klaw/helpers/db/rdbms/InsertDataJdbc.java
@@ -375,12 +375,12 @@ public Integer getNextSeqIdAndUpdate(String entityName, int tenantId) {
 
   public String insertIntoRegisterUsers(RegisterUserInfo userInfo) {
     log.debug("insertIntoRegisterUsers {}", userInfo.getUsername());
-    Optional<RegisterUserInfo> userExists = registerInfoRepo.findById(userInfo.getUsername());
 
     Optional<UserInfo> userNameExists = userInfoRepo.findById(userInfo.getUsername());
     if (userNameExists.isPresent()) return "Failure. User already exists";
 
     // STAGING status comes from AD users
+    Optional<RegisterUserInfo> userExists = registerInfoRepo.findById(userInfo.getUsername());
     if (userExists.isPresent()) {
       if ("APPROVED".equals(userExists.get().getStatus())) {
         // do nothing -- user is deleted