diff --git a/mapr/ojai/ojai_query/OJAIQueryCondition.py b/mapr/ojai/ojai_query/OJAIQueryCondition.py
index b3768c8..6542c68 100644
--- a/mapr/ojai/ojai_query/OJAIQueryCondition.py
+++ b/mapr/ojai/ojai_query/OJAIQueryCondition.py
@@ -105,11 +105,11 @@ def not_matches_(self, field_path, regex):
         return self
 
     def like_(self, field_path, like_expression, escape_char=None):
-        self.__tokens.append({'$like': {field_path: like_expression}})
+        self.__tokens.append({'$like': {field_path: [like_expression, escape_char] if escape_char else like_expression}})
         return self
 
     def not_like_(self, field_path, like_expression, escape_char=None):
-        self.__tokens.append({'$notlike': {field_path: like_expression}})
+        self.__tokens.append({'$notlike': {field_path: [like_expression, escape_char] if escape_char else like_expression}})
         return self
 
     def is_(self, field_path, op, value):
diff --git a/mapr/ojai/storage/OJAIConnection.py b/mapr/ojai/storage/OJAIConnection.py
index d55d602..3e29325 100644
--- a/mapr/ojai/storage/OJAIConnection.py
+++ b/mapr/ojai/storage/OJAIConnection.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.ConnectionError import ConnectionError
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.IllegalArgumentError import IllegalArgumentError
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.PathNotFoundError import PathNotFoundError
+from mapr.ojai.exceptions.AccessDeniedError import AccessDeniedError
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.StoreAlreadyExistsError import StoreAlreadyExistsError
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.StoreNotFoundError import StoreNotFoundError
 from mapr.ojai.exceptions.UnknownServerError import UnknownServerError
@@ -112,31 +113,28 @@ def __parse_connection_url(connection_str):
                              .format(e,
                                      'Common url string format'
                                      ' is <host>[:<port>][?<options...>].'))
-        options_dict = (
-            urllib.parse.parse_qs(urllib.parse.urlparse(connection_str).query))
-        auth = urllib.parse.unquote(options_dict.get('auth', ['basic'])[0])
-        user = urllib.parse.unquote(options_dict.get('user', [''])[0])
-        password = urllib.parse.unquote(options_dict.get('password', [''])[0])
-        key = '{0}:{1}'.format(user, password).encode()
+
+        options_dict = dict()
+        for pair in urllib.parse.urlparse(connection_str).query.split(';'):
+            entry = pair.split('=')
+            if entry[1:]:
+                options_dict[entry[0]] = urllib.parse.unquote(entry[1])
+
+        key = '{0}:{1}'.format(options_dict.get('user', ''), options_dict.get('password', '')).encode()
         encoded_user_metadata = base64.b64encode(key).decode()
-        ssl = \
-            True if urllib.parse.unquote(
-                options_dict.get('ssl', ['true'])[0]) == 'true' else False
-        ssl_ca = urllib.parse.unquote(options_dict.get('sslCA', [''])[0])
-        ssl_target_name_override = \
-            urllib.parse.unquote(
-                options_dict.get('sslTargetNameOverride', [''])[0])
-
-        if ssl and ssl_ca == '':
+        ssl = json.loads(options_dict.get('ssl', 'true'))
+        ssl_ca = options_dict.get('sslCA', '')
+
+        if ssl and not ssl_ca:
             raise AttributeError(
                 'sslCa path must be specified when ssl enabled.')
 
         return url, \
-               auth, \
+               options_dict.get('auth', 'basic'), \
                encoded_user_metadata, \
                ssl, \
                ssl_ca, \
-               ssl_target_name_override
+               options_dict.get('sslTargetNameOverride', '')
 
     @staticmethod
     def __get_channel(url,
@@ -211,6 +209,8 @@ def __validate_response(response):
             raise StoreAlreadyExistsError(m=response.error.error_message)
         elif response.error.err_code == ErrorCode.Value('PATH_NOT_FOUND'):
             raise PathNotFoundError(m=response.error.error_message)
+        elif response.error.err_code == ErrorCode.Value('ACCESS_DENIED'):
+            raise AccessDeniedError(m=response.error.error_message)
         elif response.error.err_code == ErrorCode.Value('TABLE_NOT_FOUND'):
             return False
         else:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dc76947..07a1310 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 
 
 setup(name='maprdb_python_client',
-      version='1.1.5',
+      version='1.1.7',
       description='MapR-DB Python Client',
       url='https://github.com/mapr/maprdb-python-client/',
       author='MapR, Inc.',
       keywords='ojai python client mapr maprdb',
       packages=find_packages(exclude=['test*', 'docs*', 'examples*']),
+	  setup_requires=['wheel'],
       install_requires=['aenum>=2.0.10', 'grpcio>=1.9.1', 'grpcio-tools>=1.9.1', 'ojai-python-api>=1.1',
                         'python-dateutil>=2.6.1', 'retrying>=1.3.3', 'future>=0.16.0'],
       python_requires='>=2.7.*',
diff --git a/test/query_test/test_query.py b/test/query_test/test_query.py
index 2f98095..32c0a62 100644
--- a/test/query_test/test_query.py
+++ b/test/query_test/test_query.py
@@ -206,10 +206,18 @@ def test_like(self):
         qc = OJAIQueryCondition().like_('card', 'visa').close().build()
         self.assertEqual(qc.as_dictionary(), {'$like': {'card': 'visa'}})
 
+    def test_like_with_escape_character(self):
+        qc = OJAIQueryCondition().like_('_id', '00\\\\%2%', '\\\\').close().build()
+        self.assertEqual(qc.as_dictionary(), {'$like': {'_id': ['00\\\\%2%', '\\\\']}})
+
     def test_not_like(self):
         qc = OJAIQueryCondition().not_like_('card', 'visa').close().build()
         self.assertEqual(qc.as_dictionary(), {'$notlike': {'card': 'visa'}})
 
+    def test_not_like_with_escape_character(self):
+        qc = OJAIQueryCondition().not_like_('_id', '00|%2%', '|').close().build()
+        self.assertEqual(qc.as_dictionary(), {'$notlike': {'_id': ['00|%2%', '|']}})
+
     def test_empty_condition(self):
         qc = OJAIQueryCondition()
         self.assertTrue(qc.is_empty())