diff --git a/js/modules/loki_public_chat_api.js b/js/modules/loki_public_chat_api.js
index f2f312206..5b22bed2e 100644
--- a/js/modules/loki_public_chat_api.js
+++ b/js/modules/loki_public_chat_api.js
@@ -457,6 +457,12 @@ class LokiPublicChannelAPI {
         { params }
       );
 
+      // if any problems, abort out
+      if (res.err || !res.response) {
+        if (res.err) log.error('Error '+res.err);
+        break;
+      }
+
       // Process results
       res.response.data.reverse().forEach(deleteEntry => {
         // Escalate it up to the subsystem that can check to see if this has