diff --git a/projectroles/tests/test_utils.py b/projectroles/tests/test_utils.py
index 8af0eeee..207905f7 100644
--- a/projectroles/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/projectroles/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1,13 +1,23 @@
 """Utils tests for the projectroles app"""
 
+import re
+
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth.models import AnonymousUser
 from django.test import override_settings
 from django.urls import reverse
 
+from test_plus import TestCase
+
 from projectroles.models import SODAR_CONSTANTS
 from projectroles.tests.test_models import ProjectMixin, RoleAssignmentMixin
 from projectroles.tests.test_views import ViewTestBase
-from projectroles.utils import AppLinkContent
+from projectroles.utils import (
+    AppLinkContent,
+    get_display_name,
+    build_secret,
+    get_app_names,
+)
 
 
 app_links = AppLinkContent()
@@ -18,6 +28,64 @@
 PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT = SODAR_CONSTANTS['PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT']
 SITE_MODE_TARGET = SODAR_CONSTANTS['SITE_MODE_TARGET']
 
+# Local constants
+CONSTANTS_OVERRIDE = {
+    'DISPLAY_NAMES': {
+        'CATEGORY': {'default': 'bar', 'plural': 'bars'},
+        'PROJECT': {'default': 'foo', 'plural': 'foos'},
+    }
+}
+
+
+class TestUtils(TestCase):
+    """Tests for general utilities"""
+
+    def test_get_display_name(self):
+        """Test get_display_name()"""
+        self.assertEqual(get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT), 'project')
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT, title=True), 'Project'
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT, count=3), 'projects'
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT, title=True, count=3),
+            'Projects',
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_CATEGORY), 'category')
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_CATEGORY, title=True), 'Category'
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_CATEGORY, count=3), 'categories'
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_display_name(PROJECT_TYPE_CATEGORY, title=True, count=3),
+            'Categories',
+        )
+
+    # TODO: Test with override
+
+    def test_build_secret(self):
+        """Test build_secret()"""
+        secret = build_secret()
+        self.assertEqual(re.match(r'[a-z\d]{32}', secret).string, secret)
+        self.assertEqual(len(build_secret(16)), 16)
+
+    @override_settings(PROJECTROLES_SECRET_LENGTH=16)
+    def test_build_secret_override(self):
+        """Test build_secret() with default length setting override"""
+        self.assertEqual(len(build_secret()), 16)
+
+    def test_get_app_names(self):
+        """Test get_app_names()"""
+        app_names = get_app_names()
+        self.assertNotEqual(len(app_names), 0)
+        self.assertFalse(any([a.startswith('django.') for a in app_names]))
+        self.assertFalse(any(['.apps.' in a for a in app_names]))
+        self.assertNotIn(settings.SITE_PACKAGE, app_names)
+
 
 class TestAppLinkContent(ProjectMixin, RoleAssignmentMixin, ViewTestBase):
     """Tests for AppLinkContent"""
diff --git a/projectroles/utils.py b/projectroles/utils.py
index 907f3a16..9f026d7c 100644
--- a/projectroles/utils.py
+++ b/projectroles/utils.py
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 from projectroles.plugins import get_active_plugins
 from projectroles.models import SODAR_CONSTANTS
 
-# Settings
-SECRET_LENGTH = getattr(settings, 'PROJECTROLES_SECRET_LENGTH', 32)
 
 # SODAR constants
 PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT = SODAR_CONSTANTS['PROJECT_TYPE_PROJECT']
@@ -47,6 +45,7 @@ def get_display_name(key, title=False, count=1, plural=False):
     return ret.lower() if not title else ret.title()
 
 
+# TODO: Deprecate (see #1487)
 def get_user_display_name(user, inc_user=False):
     """
     Return full name of user for displaying.
@@ -61,13 +60,15 @@ def get_user_display_name(user, inc_user=False):
     return user.username
 
 
-def build_secret(length=SECRET_LENGTH):
+def build_secret(length=None):
     """
     Return secret string for e.g. public URLs.
 
-    :param length: Length of string if specified, default value from settings
+    :param length: Length of string, use None for default (integer or None)
     :return: Randomized secret (string)
     """
+    if not length:
+        length = getattr(settings, 'PROJECTROLES_SECRET_LENGTH', 32)
     length = int(length) if int(length) <= 255 else 255
     return ''.join(
         random.SystemRandom().choice(string.ascii_lowercase + string.digits)