diff --git a/conf/ldapcherry.ini b/conf/ldapcherry.ini
index 3a4b32e..b2a00f9 100644
--- a/conf/ldapcherry.ini
+++ b/conf/ldapcherry.ini
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ ldap.starttls = 'on'
 ldap.checkcert = 'off'
 ldap.user_filter_tmpl = '(uid=%(username)s)'
 ldap.group_filter_tmpl = '(member=%(userdn)s)'
+ldap.timeout = 1
 
 
 ad.module = 'ldapcherry.backend.backendSamba4'
diff --git a/ldapcherry/backend/backendLdap.py b/ldapcherry/backend/backendLdap.py
index f7f150f..1a546b8 100644
--- a/ldapcherry/backend/backendLdap.py
+++ b/ldapcherry/backend/backendLdap.py
@@ -22,14 +22,21 @@ class Backend(ldapcherry.backend.Backend):
         self.checkcert = self.get_param('checkcert', 'on')
         self.starttls = self.get_param('starttls', 'off')
         self.uri = self.get_param('uri')
+        self.timeout = self.get_param('timeout', 1)
         self.userdn = self.get_param('userdn')
         self.groupdn = self.get_param('groupdn')
         self.user_filter_tmpl = self.get_param('user_filter_tmpl')
-        self.attrlist = attrslist
+        self.attrlist = []
+        for a in attrslist:
+            try:
+                self.attrlist.append(str(a))
+            except UnicodeEncodeError:
+                tmp = unicode(a).encode('unicode_escape')
+                self.attrlist.append(tmp)
 
     def auth(self, username, password):
 
-        binddn = self.get_user(username)
+        binddn = self.get_user(username, False)
         if binddn:
             ldap_client = self._connect()
             try:
@@ -57,7 +64,11 @@ class Backend(ldapcherry.backend.Backend):
     def del_user(self, username):
         pass
 
-    def get_user(self, username, attrs=None):
+    def get_user(self, username, attrs=True):
+        if attrs:
+            a = self.attrlist
+        else:
+            a = None
         ldap_client = self._connect()
         try:
             ldap_client.simple_bind_s(self.binddn, self.bindpassword)
@@ -82,19 +93,23 @@ class Backend(ldapcherry.backend.Backend):
         r = ldap_client.search_s(self.userdn,
                 ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE,
                 user_filter,
-                attrlist=attrs
+                attrlist=a
             )
         if len(r) == 0:
             ldap_client.unbind_s()
             return False
 
         ldap_client.unbind_s()
-        dn_entry = r[0][0]
+        if attrs:
+            dn_entry = r[0]
+        else:
+            dn_entry = r[0][0]
         return dn_entry
 
     def _connect(self):
         ldap_client = ldap.initialize(self.uri)
         ldap_client.set_option(ldap.OPT_REFERRALS, 0)
+        ldap_client.set_option(ldap.OPT_TIMEOUT, self.timeout)
         if self.starttls == 'on':
             ldap.set_option(ldap.OPT_X_TLS_DEMAND, True)
         else:
diff --git a/tests/cfg/ldapcherry.ini b/tests/cfg/ldapcherry.ini
index 18a47ea..f157b26 100644
--- a/tests/cfg/ldapcherry.ini
+++ b/tests/cfg/ldapcherry.ini
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ ldap.starttls = 'on'
 ldap.checkcert = 'off'
 ldap.user_filter_tmpl = '(uid=%(username)s)'
 ldap.group_filter_tmpl = '(member=%(userdn)s)'
+ldap.timeout = 1
 
 ad.module = 'ldapcherry.backend.backendSamba4'
 ad.auth = 'Administrator'
diff --git a/tests/test_BackendLdap.py b/tests/test_BackendLdap.py
index b60e100..f85c9e5 100644
--- a/tests/test_BackendLdap.py
+++ b/tests/test_BackendLdap.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ cfg = {
 }
 
 cherrypy.log.error = syslog_error
-attr = ['shell', 'cn', 'uid', 'uidNumber', 'gidNumber', 'home', 'userPassword', 'givenName', 'email', 'sn']
+attr = ['shéll', 'shell', 'cn', 'uid', 'uidNumber', 'gidNumber', 'home', 'userPassword', 'givenName', 'email', 'sn']
 
 class TestError(object):
 
@@ -110,4 +110,6 @@ class TestError(object):
 
     def testGetUser(self):
         inv = Backend(cfg, cherrypy.log, 'ldap', attr)
-        return True
+        ret = inv.get_user('jwatson')
+        expected = ('cn=John Watson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org', {'uid': ['jwatson'], 'cn': ['John Watson'], 'sn': ['watson']})
+        assert ret == expected