diff --git a/src/twister.cpp b/src/twister.cpp
index 5f0faadc..c9d7a992 100644
--- a/src/twister.cpp
+++ b/src/twister.cpp
@@ -1092,9 +1092,13 @@ bool processReceivedDM(lazy_entry const* post)
                         libtorrent::error_code ec;
                         if (lazy_bdecode(textOut.data(), textOut.data()+textOut.size(), v, ec, &pos) == 0
                                 && v.type() == lazy_entry::dict_t) {
-                            msg = v.dict_find_string_value("msg");
-                            to = v.dict_find_string_value("to");
-                            // new features here: key distribution etc
+                            lazy_entry const* pMsg = v.dict_find_string("msg");
+                            lazy_entry const* pTo  = v.dict_find_string("to");
+                            if (pMsg && pTo) {
+                                msg = pMsg->string_value();
+                                to  = pTo->string_value();
+                                // new features here: key distribution etc
+                            }
                         }
                     }