diff --git a/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py b/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
index 3ebedf65..4b118d64 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
@@ -44,21 +44,10 @@ class AbstractMinimalConnector(ABC):
         if min_confidence:
             params["min_confidence"] = min_confidence
 
-        resp = requests.get(
+        data = get_data(
             "%s%s" % (self.search_url, query),
             params=params,
-            headers={
-                "Accept": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
-                "User-Agent": settings.USER_AGENT,
-            },
         )
-        if not resp.ok:
-            resp.raise_for_status()
-        try:
-            data = resp.json()
-        except ValueError as e:
-            logger.exception(e)
-            raise ConnectorException("Unable to parse json response", e)
         results = []
 
         for doc in self.parse_search_data(data)[:10]:
@@ -68,24 +57,14 @@ class AbstractMinimalConnector(ABC):
     def isbn_search(self, query):
         """ isbn search """
         params = {}
-        resp = requests.get(
+        data = get_data(
             "%s%s" % (self.isbn_search_url, query),
             params=params,
-            headers={
-                "Accept": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
-                "User-Agent": settings.USER_AGENT,
-            },
         )
-        if not resp.ok:
-            resp.raise_for_status()
-        try:
-            data = resp.json()
-        except ValueError as e:
-            logger.exception(e)
-            raise ConnectorException("Unable to parse json response", e)
         results = []
 
-        for doc in self.parse_isbn_search_data(data):
+        # this shouldn't be returning mutliple results, but just in case
+        for doc in self.parse_isbn_search_data(data)[:10]:
             results.append(self.format_isbn_search_result(doc))
         return results
 
@@ -234,11 +213,12 @@ def dict_from_mappings(data, mappings):
     return result
 
 
-def get_data(url):
+def get_data(url, params=None):
     """ wrapper for request.get """
     try:
         resp = requests.get(
             url,
+            params=params,
             headers={
                 "Accept": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                 "User-Agent": settings.USER_AGENT,
diff --git a/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_abstract_minimal_connector.py b/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_abstract_minimal_connector.py
index 957d3233..fa7c85f4 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_abstract_minimal_connector.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/tests/connectors/test_abstract_minimal_connector.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class AbstractConnector(TestCase):
             books_url="https://example.com/books",
             covers_url="https://example.com/covers",
             search_url="https://example.com/search?q=",
-            isbn_search_url="https://example.com/isbn",
+            isbn_search_url="https://example.com/isbn?q=",
         )
 
         class TestConnector(abstract_connector.AbstractMinimalConnector):
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class AbstractConnector(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(connector.books_url, "https://example.com/books")
         self.assertEqual(connector.covers_url, "https://example.com/covers")
         self.assertEqual(connector.search_url, "https://example.com/search?q=")
-        self.assertEqual(connector.isbn_search_url, "https://example.com/isbn")
+        self.assertEqual(connector.isbn_search_url, "https://example.com/isbn?q=")
         self.assertIsNone(connector.name)
         self.assertEqual(connector.identifier, "example.com")
         self.assertIsNone(connector.max_query_count)
@@ -71,6 +71,30 @@ class AbstractConnector(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(results[1], "b")
         self.assertEqual(results[2], "c")
 
+    @responses.activate
+    def test_search_min_confidence(self):
+        """ makes an http request to the outside service """
+        responses.add(
+            responses.GET,
+            "https://example.com/search?q=a%20book%20title&min_confidence=1",
+            json=["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l"],
+            status=200,
+        )
+        results = self.test_connector.search("a book title", min_confidence=1)
+        self.assertEqual(len(results), 10)
+
+    @responses.activate
+    def test_isbn_search(self):
+        """ makes an http request to the outside service """
+        responses.add(
+            responses.GET,
+            "https://example.com/isbn?q=123456",
+            json=["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l"],
+            status=200,
+        )
+        results = self.test_connector.isbn_search("123456")
+        self.assertEqual(len(results), 10)
+
     def test_search_result(self):
         """ a class that stores info about a search result """
         result = SearchResult(