diff --git a/docs/guide/querying.rst b/docs/guide/querying.rst
index 4447f7da..690569a9 100644
--- a/docs/guide/querying.rst
+++ b/docs/guide/querying.rst
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ custom manager methods as you like::
 
         @queryset_manager
         def live_posts(doc_cls, queryset):
-            return queryset.filter(published=True)
+            return queryset(published=True).filter(published=True)
 
     BlogPost(title='test1', published=False).save()
     BlogPost(title='test2', published=True).save()
diff --git a/mongoengine/django/shortcuts.py b/mongoengine/django/shortcuts.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29bc17a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mongoengine/django/shortcuts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+from django.http import Http404
+from mongoengine.queryset import QuerySet
+from mongoengine.base import BaseDocument
+
+def _get_queryset(cls):
+    """Inspired by django.shortcuts.*"""
+    if isinstance(cls, QuerySet):
+        return cls
+    else:
+        return cls.objects
+
+def get_document_or_404(cls, *args, **kwargs):
+    """
+    Uses get() to return an document, or raises a Http404 exception if the document
+    does not exist.
+
+    cls may be a Document or QuerySet object. All other passed
+    arguments and keyword arguments are used in the get() query.
+
+    Note: Like with get(), an MultipleObjectsReturned will be raised if more than one
+    object is found.
+
+    Inspired by django.shortcuts.*
+    """
+    queryset = _get_queryset(cls)
+    try:
+        return queryset.get(*args, **kwargs)
+    except queryset._document.DoesNotExist:
+        raise Http404('No %s matches the given query.' % queryset._document._class_name)
+
+def get_list_or_404(cls, *args, **kwargs):
+    """
+    Uses filter() to return a list of documents, or raise a Http404 exception if
+    the list is empty.
+
+    cls may be a Document or QuerySet object. All other passed
+    arguments and keyword arguments are used in the filter() query.
+
+    Inspired by django.shortcuts.*
+    """
+    queryset = _get_queryset(cls)
+    obj_list = list(queryset.filter(*args, **kwargs))
+    if not obj_list:
+        raise Http404('No %s matches the given query.' % queryset._document._class_name)
+    return obj_list
diff --git a/mongoengine/fields.py b/mongoengine/fields.py
index 55e5addb..75008d6f 100644
--- a/mongoengine/fields.py
+++ b/mongoengine/fields.py
@@ -348,6 +348,11 @@ class DictField(BaseField):
     .. versionadded:: 0.3
     """
 
+    def __init__(self, basecls=None, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.basecls = basecls or BaseField
+        assert issubclass(self.basecls, BaseField)
+        super(DictField, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
     def validate(self, value):
         """Make sure that a list of valid fields is being used.
         """
@@ -360,7 +365,7 @@ class DictField(BaseField):
                                   'contain "." or "$" characters')
 
     def lookup_member(self, member_name):
-        return BaseField(db_field=member_name)
+        return self.basecls(db_field=member_name)
 
 class GeoLocationField(DictField):
     """Supports geobased fields"""
diff --git a/mongoengine/queryset.py b/mongoengine/queryset.py
index 396a745c..72a474d7 100644
--- a/mongoengine/queryset.py
+++ b/mongoengine/queryset.py
@@ -59,8 +59,12 @@ class Q(object):
 
     def _combine(self, other, op):
         obj = Q()
-        obj.query = ['('] + copy.deepcopy(self.query) + [op]
-        obj.query += copy.deepcopy(other.query) + [')']
+        if not other.query[0]:
+            return self
+        if self.query[0]:
+            obj.query = ['('] + copy.deepcopy(self.query) + [op] + copy.deepcopy(other.query) + [')']
+        else:
+            obj.query = copy.deepcopy(other.query)
         return obj
 
     def __or__(self, other):
@@ -313,7 +317,7 @@ class QuerySet(object):
             op = None
             if parts[-1] in operators + match_operators:
                 op = parts.pop()
-            
+
             if _doc_cls:
                 # Switch field names to proper names [set in Field(name='foo')]
                 fields = QuerySet._lookup_field(_doc_cls, parts)
diff --git a/tests/queryset.py b/tests/queryset.py
index aba3bc7d..9daa73ec 100644
--- a/tests/queryset.py
+++ b/tests/queryset.py
@@ -1063,6 +1063,29 @@ class QuerySetTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         BlogPost.drop_collection()
 
+    def test_dict_with_custom_baseclass(self):
+        """Ensure DictField working with custom base clases.
+        """
+        class Test(Document):
+            testdict = DictField()
+
+        t = Test(testdict={'f': 'Value'})
+        t.save()
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(Test.objects(testdict__f__startswith='Val')), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(len(Test.objects(testdict__f='Value')), 1)
+        Test.drop_collection()
+
+        class Test(Document):
+            testdict = DictField(basecls=StringField)
+
+        t = Test(testdict={'f': 'Value'})
+        t.save()
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(Test.objects(testdict__f='Value')), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(len(Test.objects(testdict__f__startswith='Val')), 1)
+        Test.drop_collection()
+
     def test_bulk(self):
         """Ensure bulk querying by object id returns a proper dict.
         """
@@ -1136,5 +1159,20 @@ class QTest(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(q._item_query_as_js(item, test_scope, 0), js)
             self.assertEqual(scope, test_scope)
 
+    def test_empty_q(self):
+        """Ensure that empty Q objects won't hurt.
+        """
+        q1 = Q()
+        q2 = Q(age__gte=18)
+        q3 = Q()
+        q4 = Q(name='test')
+        q5 = Q()
+
+        query = ['(', {'age__gte': 18}, '||', {'name': 'test'}, ')']
+        self.assertEqual((q1 | q2 | q3 | q4 | q5).query, query)
+
+        query = ['(', {'age__gte': 18}, '&&', {'name': 'test'}, ')']
+        self.assertEqual((q1 & q2 & q3 & q4 & q5).query, query)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()