diff --git a/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_relationship.rb b/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_relationship.rb
index f8e42676..5eaad4ed 100644
--- a/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_relationship.rb
+++ b/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_relationship.rb
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def update_props(properties)
         return if properties.empty?
 
         params = {}
-        q = "#{match_start} SET " + properties.keys.each_with_index.map do |k, i|
+        q = "#{match_start} SET " + properties.keys.each_with_index.map do |k, _i|
           param = k.to_s.tr_s('^a-zA-Z0-9', '_').gsub(/^_+|_+$/, '')
           params[param] = properties[k]
 
diff --git a/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_session.rb b/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_session.rb
index beb54319..9b3bc834 100644
--- a/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_session.rb
+++ b/lib/neo4j-server/cypher_session.rb
@@ -101,16 +101,14 @@ def begin_tx
       end
 
       def create_node(props = nil, labels = [])
-        label_string = labels.empty? ? '' : (":" + labels.map { |k| "`#{k}`" }.join(':'))
+        label_string = labels.empty? ? '' : (':' + labels.map { |k| "`#{k}`" }.join(':'))
         if !props.nil?
-          prop_identifier = '{props}'
+          prop = '{props}'
           props.each_key { |k| props.delete(k) if props[k].nil? }
         end
-        cypher_string = "CREATE (n#{label_string} #{prop_identifier}) RETURN ID(n)"
 
-        id = _query_or_fail(cypher_string, true, props: props)
-        value = props.nil? ? id : {id: id, metadata: {labels: labels}, data: props}
-        CypherNode.new(self, value)
+        id = _query_or_fail("CREATE (n#{label_string} #{prop}) RETURN ID(n)", true, props: props)
+        CypherNode.new(self, props.nil? ? id : {id: id, metadata: {labels: labels}, data: props})
       end
 
       def load_node(neo_id)
@@ -215,9 +213,8 @@ def _query(query, params = {}, options = {})
           if curr_tx
             curr_tx._query(query, params)
           else
-            url = resource_url(:cypher)
             query = params.nil? ? {'query' => query} : {'query' => query, 'params' => params}
-            response = @connection.post(url, query)
+            response = @connection.post(resource_url(:cypher), query)
             CypherResponse.create_with_no_tx(response)
           end
         end
diff --git a/spec/neo4j-core/unit/query_spec.rb b/spec/neo4j-core/unit/query_spec.rb
index deb188ed..42577df5 100644
--- a/spec/neo4j-core/unit/query_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/neo4j-core/unit/query_spec.rb
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ def self.it_generates(cypher, params = {})
       it_generates 'WHERE (q.age = {q_age} AND q.name = {q_name}) AND (r.grade = 80)', q_age: 30, q_name: 'Brian'
     end
 
-    describe ".where(q: {name: /Brian.*/i})" do
+    describe '.where(q: {name: /Brian.*/i})' do
       it_generates 'WHERE (q.name =~ {q_name})', q_name: '(?i)Brian.*'
     end