diff --git a/Zotlabs/Module/Perfstats.php b/Zotlabs/Module/Perfstats.php
index f5e6b50e5..8709038db 100644
--- a/Zotlabs/Module/Perfstats.php
+++ b/Zotlabs/Module/Perfstats.php
@@ -14,9 +14,37 @@ use Zotlabs\Lib\Queue;
 use Zotlabs\Lib\QueueWorkerStats;
 use Zotlabs\Web\Controller;
 
+/**
+ * Controller for the `/perfstats` module.
+ *
+ * Collects various performance stats for the site, and reponds with the stats
+ * as a json array.
+ */
 class Perfstats extends Controller
 {
 	public function init(): void {
+		//
+		// We only accept GET requests
+		//
+		if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'GET') {
+			http_status_exit(400, 'Unsupported method');
+		}
+
+		//
+		// We only accept json requests
+		//
+		if (getBestSupportedMimeType(['application/json']) === null) {
+			http_status_exit(400, 'No supported format');
+		}
+
+		//
+		// Only admins should be given access
+		//
+		if (!is_site_admin()) {
+			http_status(401, 'Access denied');
+			json_return_and_die(['error' => 'access denied']);
+		}
+
 		$data = $this->getStats();
 		json_return_and_die($data);
 	}
@@ -52,4 +80,9 @@ class Perfstats extends Controller
 
 		return 0;
 	}
+
+	private function requireJson(): void {
+		if (getBestSupportedMimeTypes(['application/json']) === null) {
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/Zotlabs/Widget/Channel_activities.php b/Zotlabs/Widget/Channel_activities.php
index 03d5123c8..af94d6235 100644
--- a/Zotlabs/Widget/Channel_activities.php
+++ b/Zotlabs/Widget/Channel_activities.php
@@ -254,34 +254,26 @@ class Channel_activities {
 	}
 
 	private static function get_system_status(): void {
-		$response = z_fetch_url(
-			z_root() . '/perfstats',
-			false,						// binary
-			0,							// redirects
-			[ 'headers' => [ 'accept: application/json' ] ]
-		);
-
-		if ($response['success'] === true) {
-			$items = json_decode($response['body'], true);
-			//$items['debug'] = print_r($response['body'], true);
-
-			self::$activities['status'] = [
-				'label' => t('System status'),
-				'icon' => 'gpu-card',
-				'date' => datetime_convert(),
-				'items' => $items,
-				'tpl' => 'system_status_widget.tpl',
-				'labels' => [
-					'loadavg' => t('Load average'),
-					'dbqueries' => t('DB queries'),
-					'outqueue' => t('Output queue'),
-					'queueworkers' => t('Queue workers'),
-					'workqsz' => t('Work queue size'),
-				],
-			];
-		} else {
-			logger("fetching perfstats failed: {$response['return_code']}", LOGGER_NORMAL, LOG_ERR);
-		}
+		self::$activities['status'] = [
+			'label' => t('System status'),
+			'icon' => 'gpu-card',
+			'date' => datetime_convert(),
+			'items' => [
+				'loadavg' => '0 / 0 / 0',
+				'dbqueries' => 0,
+				'outqueue' => 0,
+				'queueworkers' => 0,
+				'workqsz' => 0,
+			],
+			'tpl' => 'system_status_widget.tpl',
+			'labels' => [
+				'loadavg' => t('Load average'),
+				'dbqueries' => t('DB queries'),
+				'outqueue' => t('Output queue'),
+				'queueworkers' => t('Queue workers'),
+				'workqsz' => t('Work queue size'),
+			],
+		];
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/view/tpl/system_status_widget.tpl b/view/tpl/system_status_widget.tpl
index 4da43bd24..b36455e9a 100644
--- a/view/tpl/system_status_widget.tpl
+++ b/view/tpl/system_status_widget.tpl
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ setInterval(() => {
 	fetch('/perfstats', {
 		headers: {
 			"Accept": "application/json",
-		}
+		},
+		credentials: "include",
 	})
 	.then((response) => response.json())
 	.then((json) => {