diff --git a/src/wuttasync/importing/base.py b/src/wuttasync/importing/base.py
index dd65190..183c1b9 100644
--- a/src/wuttasync/importing/base.py
+++ b/src/wuttasync/importing/base.py
@@ -379,8 +379,10 @@ class Importer:  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes,too-many-public-
         # nb. prefer 'keys' but use 'key' as fallback
         if "keys" in self.__dict__:
             keys = self.__dict__["keys"]
-        elif "key" in self.__dict__:
-            keys = self.__dict__["key"]
+        elif hasattr(self, "keys"):
+            keys = self.keys
+        elif hasattr(self, "key"):
+            keys = self.key
         else:
             keys = self.default_keys
 
diff --git a/tests/importing/test_base.py b/tests/importing/test_base.py
index 9f83ae3..cf49b1c 100644
--- a/tests/importing/test_base.py
+++ b/tests/importing/test_base.py
@@ -90,19 +90,24 @@ class TestImporter(DataTestCase):
         imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
         self.assertEqual(imp.get_keys(), ["uuid"])
 
-        # class may define 'keys'
+        # object dict may define 'keys'
         imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
-        with patch.object(imp, "keys", new=["foo", "bar"], create=True):
+        with patch.dict(imp.__dict__, keys=["foo", "bar"]):
             self.assertEqual(imp.get_keys(), ["foo", "bar"])
 
+        # class may define 'keys'
+        with patch.object(mod.Importer, "keys", new=["foo", "baz"], create=True):
+            imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
+            self.assertEqual(imp.get_keys(), ["foo", "baz"])
+
         # class may define 'key'
-        imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
-        with patch.object(imp, "key", new="whatever", create=True):
+        with patch.object(mod.Importer, "key", new="whatever", create=True):
+            imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
             self.assertEqual(imp.get_keys(), ["whatever"])
 
         # class may define 'default_keys'
-        imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
-        with patch.object(imp, "default_keys", new=["baz", "foo"]):
+        with patch.object(mod.Importer, "default_keys", new=["baz", "foo"]):
+            imp = self.make_importer(model_class=model.User)
             self.assertEqual(imp.get_keys(), ["baz", "foo"])
 
     def test_process_data(self):