diff --git a/src/bot/message/inboundMessage.py b/src/bot/message/inboundMessage.py
index 8267eee..58c0573 100644
--- a/src/bot/message/inboundMessage.py
+++ b/src/bot/message/inboundMessage.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class InboundMessage:
             GroupNameValidator.validate(group_name)
 
         # done upon resolving a message handler action
-        if '@' in update.message.text and update.message.text[0] != '/':
+        if update.message and '@' in update.message.text and update.message.text[0] != '/':
             searched_message_part = [part for part in update.message.text.split(' ') if '@' in part][0]
             group_name = re.sub(r'\W+', '', searched_message_part).lower()