diff --git a/python/hopsworks_common/core/dataset_api.py b/python/hopsworks_common/core/dataset_api.py
index 644412d32..bbce0b79d 100644
--- a/python/hopsworks_common/core/dataset_api.py
+++ b/python/hopsworks_common/core/dataset_api.py
@@ -100,28 +100,26 @@ def download(
         # Build the path to download the file on the local fs and return to the user, it should be absolute for consistency
         # Download in CWD if local_path not specified
         if local_path is None:
-            local_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), os.path.basename(path))
+            local_path = os.getcwd()
         # If local_path specified, ensure it is absolute
-        else:
-            if os.path.isabs(local_path):
-                local_path = os.path.join(local_path, os.path.basename(path))
-            else:
-                local_path = os.path.join(
-                    os.getcwd(), local_path, os.path.basename(path)
-                )
+        elif not os.path.isabs(local_path):
+            local_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), local_path)
 
-        if os.path.exists(local_path):
-            if overwrite:
-                if os.path.isfile:
-                    os.remove(local_path)
-                else:
-                    shutil.rmtree(local_path)
-            else:
-                raise IOError(
-                    "{} already exists, set overwrite=True to overwrite it".format(
-                        local_path
-                    )
+        # If local_path is a directory, download into the directory
+        if os.path.isdir(local_path):
+            local_path = os.path.join(local_path, os.path.basename(path))
+
+        if overwrite:
+            if os.path.isfile(local_path):
+                os.remove(local_path)
+            elif os.path.isdir(local_path):
+                shutil.rmtree(local_path)
+        elif os.path.exists(local_path):
+            raise IOError(
+                "{} already exists, set overwrite=True to overwrite it".format(
+                    local_path
                 )
+            )
 
         file_size = int(self._get(path)["attributes"]["size"])
         with _client._send_request(
diff --git a/python/hopsworks_common/kafka_topic.py b/python/hopsworks_common/kafka_topic.py
index c056917b7..0bf3e65df 100644
--- a/python/hopsworks_common/kafka_topic.py
+++ b/python/hopsworks_common/kafka_topic.py
@@ -84,11 +84,6 @@ def _validate_topic_config(cls, name, num_replicas, num_partitions):
                         )
                     )
                     num_partitions = KAFKA_TOPIC.NUM_PARTITIONS
-            else:
-                if num_replicas is not None or num_partitions is not None:
-                    raise ValueError(
-                        "Number of replicas or partitions cannot be changed in existing kafka topics."
-                    )
         elif name is None or name == KAFKA_TOPIC.NONE:
             num_replicas = None
             num_partitions = None
diff --git a/python/hopsworks_common/util.py b/python/hopsworks_common/util.py
index 27a3ff8eb..90713c931 100644
--- a/python/hopsworks_common/util.py
+++ b/python/hopsworks_common/util.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import time
 from datetime import date, datetime, timezone
 from typing import (
-    TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
     Callable,
     Dict,
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@
 from six import string_types
 
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if HAS_PANDAS:
     import pandas as pd
 
 
@@ -74,9 +73,6 @@ def convert(self, obj):
 
         import numpy as np
 
-        if HAS_PANDAS:
-            import pandas as pd
-
         def encode_binary(x):
             return base64.encodebytes(x).decode("ascii")
 
@@ -88,7 +84,7 @@ def encode_binary(x):
             else:
                 return obj.tolist(), True
 
-        if isinstance(obj, datetime.date) or (
+        if isinstance(obj, datetime) or (
             HAS_PANDAS and isinstance(obj, pd.Timestamp)
         ):
             return obj.isoformat(), True
@@ -520,8 +516,6 @@ def _handle_tensor_input(input_tensor):
 
 
 def _handle_dataframe_input(input_ex):
-    if HAS_PANDAS:
-        import pandas as pd
     if HAS_PANDAS and isinstance(input_ex, pd.DataFrame):
         if not input_ex.empty:
             return input_ex.iloc[0].tolist()
diff --git a/python/tests/test_kafka_topic.py b/python/tests/test_kafka_topic.py
index fa91388a9..79a306e25 100644
--- a/python/tests/test_kafka_topic.py
+++ b/python/tests/test_kafka_topic.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import copy
 
 import humps
-import pytest
 from hopsworks_common import kafka_topic
 from hopsworks_common.constants import KAFKA_TOPIC
 
@@ -160,23 +159,6 @@ def test_validate_topic_config_existing_with_name_only(self, backend_fixtures):
         assert num_repl is None
         assert num_part is None
 
-    def test_validate_topic_config_existing_with_name_and_config(
-        self, backend_fixtures
-    ):
-        # Arrange
-        json = backend_fixtures["kafka_topic"]["get_existing_with_name_and_config"][
-            "response"
-        ]["kafka_topic_dto"]
-
-        # Act
-        with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e_info:
-            num_repl, num_part = kafka_topic.KafkaTopic._validate_topic_config(
-                json["name"], json["num_replicas"], json["num_partitions"]
-            )
-
-        # Assert
-        assert "Number of replicas or partitions cannot be changed" in str(e_info.value)
-
     def test_validate_topic_config_none(self, backend_fixtures):
         # Arrange
         json = backend_fixtures["kafka_topic"]["get_none"]["response"][