Proposed changes

This PR will fix the following warnings:

• PHP Warning: Attempt to read property "public" on null
• PHP Deprecated: Automatic conversion of false to array is deprecated

Type of Change

• Bugfix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• Documentation Update (if none of the other choices apply)

Checklist

• I have read the CONTRIBUTING doc
• Linting and tests pass locally with my changes
• I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
• I have added necessary documentation (if appropriate)

Further comments