diff --git a/libretroshare/src/chat/distributedchat.cc b/libretroshare/src/chat/distributedchat.cc
index a7b4e0734..ed9ae6b6f 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/chat/distributedchat.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/chat/distributedchat.cc
@@ -1845,7 +1845,7 @@ bool DistributedChatService::processLoadListItem(const RsItem *item)
 		return true ;
 	}
 
-    if(_default_identity.isNull())
+    if(_default_identity.isNull() && rsIdentity!=NULL)
     {
         std::list<RsGxsId> own_ids ;
         rsIdentity->getOwnIds(own_ids) ;