diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index ae307694f1..f85fc9bc5e 100644
--- a/src/HtmlUtils.js
+++ b/src/HtmlUtils.js
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ export function bodyToHtml(content, highlights, opts={}) {
         emojiBody = match && match[0] && match[0].length === contentBodyTrimmed.length
                     // Prevent user pills expanding for users with only emoji in
                     // their username
-                    && !content.formatted_body.includes("https://matrix.to/");
+                    && (content.formatted_body && !content.formatted_body.includes("https://matrix.to/"));
     }
 
     const className = classNames({