diff --git a/external/messenger.py b/external/messenger.py
index cd175e1..89cf5be 100755
--- a/external/messenger.py
+++ b/external/messenger.py
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ class MessengerBridge:
             self.init_backlog_length = int(cmd["data"]["initial_backlog"])
             client_file = "/tmp/fbclient_" + hashlib.sha224(cmd["data"]["email"].encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
 
-            if "client_pickle" in cmd["data"]:
+            if "client_pickle" in cmd["data"] and len(cmd["data"]["client_pickle"]) > 0:
                 data = base64.b64decode(cmd["data"]["client_pickle"])
                 data = zlib.decompress(data)
                 self.client = pickle.loads(data)