diff --git a/webapp/utils/text_formatting.jsx b/webapp/utils/text_formatting.jsx
index 9833b995c9..4c8b5e24c3 100644
--- a/webapp/utils/text_formatting.jsx
+++ b/webapp/utils/text_formatting.jsx
@@ -213,6 +213,11 @@ function highlightCurrentMentions(text, tokens) {
     }
 
     for (const mention of UserStore.getCurrentMentionKeys()) {
+        // occasionally we get an empty mention which matches a bunch of empty strings
+        if (!mention) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
         output = output.replace(new RegExp(`(^|\\W)(${escapeRegex(mention)})\\b`, 'gi'), replaceCurrentMentionWithToken);
     }