diff --git a/pennylane_pq/devices.py b/pennylane_pq/devices.py
index dd9504a..713a1cb 100644
--- a/pennylane_pq/devices.py
+++ b/pennylane_pq/devices.py
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ class ProjectQSimulator(_ProjectQDevice):
     short_name = 'projectq.simulator'
     _operation_map = PROJECTQ_OPERATION_MAP
     _expectation_map = dict({key:val for key, val in _operation_map.items()
-                        if val in [XGate, YGate, ZGate, HGate]} , **{'Identity': None})
+                             if val in [XGate, YGate, ZGate, HGate]}, **{'Identity': None})
     _circuits = {}
     _backend_kwargs = ['gate_fusion', 'rnd_seed']
 
diff --git a/pennylane_pq/pqops.py b/pennylane_pq/pqops.py
index 5ce78e1..078cb39 100644
--- a/pennylane_pq/pqops.py
+++ b/pennylane_pq/pqops.py
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ def __str__(self):
         return self.name
 
 try:
-    from projectq.ops import MatrixGate
-except:
+    from projectq.ops import MatrixGate #pylint: disable=ungrouped-imports
+except ImportError:
     MatrixGate = BasicGate
 
 class BasicProjectQMatrixGate(MatrixGate): # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods