diff --git a/src/Avatar.js b/src/Avatar.js
index d76ea6f2c4..1c1182b98d 100644
--- a/src/Avatar.js
+++ b/src/Avatar.js
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ function urlForColor(color) {
 const colorToDataURLCache = new Map();
 
 export function defaultAvatarUrlForString(s) {
+    if (!s) return ""; // XXX: should never happen but empirically does by evidence of a rageshake
     const defaultColors = ['#0DBD8B', '#368bd6', '#ac3ba8'];
     let total = 0;
     for (let i = 0; i < s.length; ++i) {