diff --git a/okta/errors/error.py b/okta/errors/error.py
index 9f24f4d4..09a39194 100644
--- a/okta/errors/error.py
+++ b/okta/errors/error.py
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ class Error:
     Base Error Class
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, message):
-        self.message = message
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.message = ""
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return str({
diff --git a/okta/errors/http_error.py b/okta/errors/http_error.py
index b1865ccb..86afb642 100644
--- a/okta/errors/http_error.py
+++ b/okta/errors/http_error.py
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ def __init__(self, url, response_details, response_body):
         self.url = url
         self.response_headers = response_details.headers
         self.stack = ""
-        super().__init__(f"HTTP {self.status} {response_body}")
+        self.message = f"HTTP {self.status} {response_body}"
diff --git a/okta/errors/okta_api_error.py b/okta/errors/okta_api_error.py
index b0557b75..65ab2237 100644
--- a/okta/errors/okta_api_error.py
+++ b/okta/errors/okta_api_error.py
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@ def __init__(self, url, response_details, response_body):
         self.headers = response_details.headers
         self.stack = ""
 
-        super().__init__(f"Okta HTTP {self.status} {self.error_code} "
-                         f"{self.error_summary}\n{error_causes_string}")
+        self.message = (f"Okta HTTP {self.status} {self.error_code} "
+                        f"{self.error_summary}\n{error_causes_string}")
diff --git a/okta/jwt.py b/okta/jwt.py
index 3a9c77ee..b30e5547 100644
--- a/okta/jwt.py
+++ b/okta/jwt.py
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ def get_PEM_JWK(private_key):
 
         # check if JWK
         # String representation of dictionary or dict
-        if ((type(private_key) == str and private_key.startswith("{")) or
-                type(private_key) == dict):
+        if ((isinstance(private_key, str) and private_key.startswith("{")) or
+                isinstance(private_key, dict)):
             # if string repr, convert to dict object
-            if (type(private_key) == str):
+            if isinstance(private_key, str):
                 private_key = literal_eval(private_key)
             # Create JWK using dict obj
             my_jwk = jwk.construct(private_key, JWT.HASH_ALGORITHM)