diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3951348..687f374 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ RUN wget -qO - https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-3.4.asc | apt-key add -
 RUN echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] http://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu xenial/mongodb-org/3.4 multiverse" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-3.4.list
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    python3.6 \
+    python3.8 \
     python3-pip \
-    libpython3.6 \
+    python3.8-dev \
+    libpython3.8 \
+    libpython3.8-dev \
     jq \
     mongodb-org \
     locales \
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     apt-get clean && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+RUN curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py && python3.8 get-pip.py
+
 WORKDIR /src
 
 ENV LC_ALL en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/project/server/main/aurehal.py b/project/server/main/aurehal.py
index 960fb7b..b4fd187 100644
--- a/project/server/main/aurehal.py
+++ b/project/server/main/aurehal.py
@@ -151,21 +151,23 @@ def harvest_and_save_aurehal(collection_name, aurehal_type):
         for vip in vips:
             orcid, id_hal_i, id_hal_s = None, None, None
             idref = vip['id']
-            for ext in vip.get('externalIds', []):
-                if 'id_hal_i' in ext['type']:
-                    id_hal_i = ext['id']
-                if 'id_hal_s' in ext['type']:
-                    id_hal_s = ext['id']
-                if 'orcid' in ext['type']:
-                    orcid = ext['id']
-            if id_hal_i:
-                hal_idref[id_hal_i] = {'idref': idref.replace('idref', '')}
-                if orcid:
-                    hal_idref[id_hal_i]['orcid'] = orcid
-            if id_hal_s:
-                hal_idref[id_hal_s] = {'idref': idref.replace('idref', '')}
-                if orcid:
-                    hal_idref[id_hal_s]['orcid'] = orcid
+            externalIds = vip.get('externalIds', [])
+            if isinstance(externalIds, list):
+                for ext in vip.get('externalIds', []):
+                    if 'id_hal_i' in ext['type']:
+                        id_hal_i = ext['id']
+                    if 'id_hal_s' in ext['type']:
+                        id_hal_s = ext['id']
+                    if 'orcid' in ext['type']:
+                        orcid = ext['id']
+                if id_hal_i:
+                    hal_idref[id_hal_i] = {'idref': idref.replace('idref', '')}
+                    if orcid:
+                        hal_idref[id_hal_i]['orcid'] = orcid
+                if id_hal_s:
+                    hal_idref[id_hal_s] = {'idref': idref.replace('idref', '')}
+                    if orcid:
+                        hal_idref[id_hal_s]['orcid'] = orcid
     #parsed data
     parsed_data, docid_map = create_docid_map(data, aurehal_type, hal_idref)
     current_file = f'aurehal_{aurehal_type}.json'
diff --git a/project/server/main/idref.py b/project/server/main/idref.py
index 6527bf7..03f40ca 100644
--- a/project/server/main/idref.py
+++ b/project/server/main/idref.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ def add_data(data, uri_prefix, target_index, target_id):
             continue
         if idref not in data:
             data[idref] = {'id':idref, 'externalIds':[]}
+        if not isinstance(data[idref].get('externalIds'), list):
+            data[idref]['externalIds'] = []
         externalIds = data[idref]['externalIds']
         has_ext = False
         for e in externalIds:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 15ce63d..0b9c6bb 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-Flask==1.1.1
+Flask==2.1.0
 Flask-Bootstrap==3.3.7.1
 Flask-Testing==0.7.1
 Flask-WTF==0.14.2
 gunicorn==20.0.4
 pymongo==3.8.0
-pandas==0.25.3
+pandas==1.2.5
 python-dateutil~=2.8.1
 python-keystoneclient==4.0.0
 python-swiftclient==3.9.0