diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32b9060
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+version: 2
+updates:
+- package-ecosystem: pip
+  directory: "/"
+  schedule:
+    interval: monthly
+    time: '08:00'
+    timezone: US/Pacific
+  open-pull-requests-limit: 10
+  target-branch: mpcontribs
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 78ec0f2..3278668 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
+arch:
+  - amd64
+  - ppc64le
 language: python
 python:
   - "2.7"
-  - "3.2"
   - "3.4"
+  - "3.8"
   - "pypy"
 install:
   - python setup.py install
diff --git a/src/mimerender.py b/src/mimerender.py
index c7a2dca..be87373 100644
--- a/src/mimerender.py
+++ b/src/mimerender.py
@@ -207,7 +207,11 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
                     shortmime = args[override_arg_idx]
                 if not shortmime and override_input_key:
                     shortmime = self._get_request_parameter(override_input_key)
-                if shortmime: mime = _get_mime_types(shortmime)[0]
+                if shortmime:
+                    try:
+                        mime = _get_mime_types(shortmime)[0]
+                    except MimeRenderException as e:
+                        return self._make_response(str(e), (('Content-Type', 'text/plain'),), '400 Bad Request')
                 accept_header = self._get_accept_header()
                 if not mime:
                     if accept_header:
@@ -341,7 +345,9 @@ def _make_response(self, content, headers, status):
     import flask
     class FlaskMimeRender(MimeRenderBase):
         def _get_request_parameter(self, key, default=None):
-            return flask.request.values.get(key, default)
+            return flask.request.values.get(
+                key, flask.request.view_args.get(key, default)
+            )
 
         def _get_accept_header(self, default=None):
             return flask.request.headers.get('Accept', default)
@@ -451,7 +457,7 @@ def _make_response(self, content, headers, status):
 
 def WSGIMimeRender(*args, **kwargs):
     '''
-    A wrapper for _WSGIMimeRender that wrapps the
+    A wrapper for _WSGIMimeRender that wraps the
     inner callable with wsgi_wrap first.
     '''
     def wrapper(*args2, **kwargs2):