diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index f85fc9bc5e..bde3978677 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 && !content.formatted_body.includes("https://matrix.to/"));
+                    && (!content.formatted_body || !content.formatted_body.includes("https://matrix.to/"));
     }
 
     const className = classNames({