diff --git a/src/message.rs b/src/message.rs
index e4aa7a9d3..4cfa5c05c 100644
--- a/src/message.rs
+++ b/src/message.rs
@@ -850,7 +850,9 @@ pub fn get_summarytext_by_raw(
     }
 
     if let Some(text) = text {
-        if prefix.is_empty() {
+        if text.as_ref().is_empty() {
+            prefix
+        } else if prefix.is_empty() {
             dc_truncate(text.as_ref(), approx_characters, true).to_string()
         } else {
             let tmp = format!("{} – {}", prefix, text.as_ref());