diff --git a/web/includes/actions.php b/web/includes/actions.php
index f6a1f9aa5..b357d3222 100644
--- a/web/includes/actions.php
+++ b/web/includes/actions.php
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 // PP - POST request handler for PHP which does not need extensions
 // credit: http://wezfurlong.org/blog/2006/nov/http-post-from-php-without-curl/
 
+
 function do_post_request($url, $data, $optional_headers = null)
 {
   $params = array('http' => array(
@@ -67,8 +68,15 @@ if ( ZM_OPT_USE_AUTH && ZM_AUTH_HASH_LOGINS && empty($user) && !empty($_REQUEST[
 
 if ( !empty($action) )
 {
-    // PP - lets validate reCaptcha if it exists
-	if (ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY)
+    if ( $action == "login" && isset($_REQUEST['username']) && ( ZM_AUTH_TYPE == "remote" || isset($_REQUEST['password']) ) )
+    {
+	// if true, a popup will display after login
+    	// PP - lets validate reCaptcha if it exists
+	if  (   defined('ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA') 
+		&& defined('ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY') 
+		&& defined('ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY')
+		&& ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY 
+		&& ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY)
 	{
 		$url = 'https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify';
 		$fields = array (
@@ -78,16 +86,38 @@ if ( !empty($action) )
 
 		);
 		$res= do_post_request($url, http_build_query($fields));
-		$result = json_decode($res);
-		if ($result->success != 'true')
+		$responseData = json_decode($res,true);
+		// PP - credit: https://github.com/google/recaptcha/blob/master/src/ReCaptcha/Response.php
+		// if recaptcha resulted in error, we might have to deny login
+		if (isset($responseData['success']) && $responseData['success'] == false)
 		{
-			userLogout();
-			$view='login';
-			$refreshParent = true;
+			// PP - before we deny auth, let's make sure the error was not 'invalid secret'
+			// because that means the user did not configure the secret key correctly
+			// in this case, we prefer to let him login in and display a message to correct
+			// the key. Unfortunately, there is no way to check for invalid site key in code
+			// as it produces the same error as when you don't answer a recaptcha
+			if (isset($responseData['error-codes']) && is_array($responseData['error-codes'])) 
+			{
+				if (!in_array('invalid-input-secret',$responseData['error-codes']))
+				{	
+					Error ("reCaptcha authentication failed");
+					userLogout();
+					$view='login';
+					$refreshParent = true;
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					//Let them login but show an error
+					echo '<script type="text/javascript">alert("'.translate('RecaptchaWarning').'"); </script>';
+					Error ("Invalid recaptcha secret detected");
+
+				}
+			}
 
 		}
 
 	}
+     }
 
     // General scope actions
     if ( $action == "login" && isset($_REQUEST['username']) && ( ZM_AUTH_TYPE == "remote" || isset($_REQUEST['password']) ) )
diff --git a/web/lang/en_gb.php b/web/lang/en_gb.php
index 76a71e301..83267ecdd 100644
--- a/web/lang/en_gb.php
+++ b/web/lang/en_gb.php
@@ -578,6 +578,7 @@ $SLANG = array(
     'Progress'              => 'Progress',
     'Protocol'              => 'Protocol',
     'Rate'                  => 'Rate',
+    'RecaptchaWarning'      => 'Your reCaptcha secret key is invalid. Please correct it, or reCaptcha will not work', // added Sep 24 2015 - PP
     'Real'                  => 'Real',
     'Record'                => 'Record',
     'RefImageBlendPct'      => 'Reference Image Blend %ge',
diff --git a/web/skins/classic/views/js/console.js.php b/web/skins/classic/views/js/console.js.php
index fb5f9eb9e..93cf0cdb7 100644
--- a/web/skins/classic/views/js/console.js.php
+++ b/web/skins/classic/views/js/console.js.php
@@ -26,3 +26,7 @@ elseif ( ZM_DYN_SHOW_DONATE_REMINDER )
 ?>
 var showVersionPopup = <?php echo isset($showVersionPopup )?'true':'false' ?>;
 var showDonatePopup = <?php echo isset($showDonatePopup )?'true':'false' ?>;
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/web/skins/classic/views/login.php b/web/skins/classic/views/login.php
index b91293965..c7be103a1 100644
--- a/web/skins/classic/views/login.php
+++ b/web/skins/classic/views/login.php
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ xhtmlHeaders(__FILE__, translate('Login') );
 ?>
 <!-- PP: Add recaptcha script if enabled -->
 <?php 
-	if (ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA)
+	if (defined('ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA') && ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA)
 	{
 		echo "<head> <script src='https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js'></script> </head>";
 	}
@@ -52,9 +52,12 @@ xhtmlHeaders(__FILE__, translate('Login') );
         <input type="submit" value="<?php echo translate('Login') ?>"/>
 	<!-- PP: Added recaptcha widget if enabled -->
 	<?php
-	if (ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY && ZM_OPT_GOOGLE_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY)
+	if (defined('ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA') 
+	    && defined('ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY') 
+	    && defined('ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY')
+	    && ZM_OPT_USE_GOOG_RECAPTCHA && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY && ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SECRETKEY)
 	{
-	echo "<br/><br/><center> <div class='g-recaptcha'  data-sitekey='".ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY."'></div> </center>";
+		echo "<br/><br/><center> <div class='g-recaptcha'  data-sitekey='".ZM_OPT_GOOG_RECAPTCHA_SITEKEY."'></div> </center>";
 	}
 	?>
       </form>