diff --git a/deltachat-ffi/src/lib.rs b/deltachat-ffi/src/lib.rs
index 20b61f50a..2fe346004 100644
--- a/deltachat-ffi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/deltachat-ffi/src/lib.rs
@@ -552,15 +552,24 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn dc_get_draft(context: *mut dc_context_t, chat_id: u32)
         return ptr::null_mut(); // NULL explicitly defined as "no draft"
     }
     let context = &*context;
-    let message = match chat::get_draft(context, chat_id) {
-        Ok(msg) => msg,
-        Err(e) => {
-            error!(context, "Failed to get draft for chat #{}: {}", chat_id, e);
-            return ptr::null_mut();
+
+    match chat::get_draft(context, chat_id) {
+        Ok(Some(draft)) => {
+            let ffi_msg = MessageWrapper {
+                context,
+                message: draft,
+            };
+            Box::into_raw(Box::new(ffi_msg))
         }
-    };
-    let ffi_msg = MessageWrapper { context, message };
-    Box::into_raw(Box::new(ffi_msg))
+        Ok(None) => ptr::null_mut(),
+        Err(err) => {
+            error!(
+                context,
+                "Failed to get draft for chat #{}: {}", chat_id, err
+            );
+            ptr::null_mut()
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 #[no_mangle]
diff --git a/examples/repl/cmdline.rs b/examples/repl/cmdline.rs
index 8e0923f06..de92a1371 100644
--- a/examples/repl/cmdline.rs
+++ b/examples/repl/cmdline.rs
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ pub unsafe fn dc_cmdline(context: &Context, line: &str) -> Result<(), failure::E
                 },
             );
             log_msglist(context, &msglist)?;
-            if let Ok(draft) = chat::get_draft(context, sel_chat.get_id()) {
+            if let Some(draft) = chat::get_draft(context, sel_chat.get_id())? {
                 log_msg(context, "Draft", &draft);
             }
 
diff --git a/src/chat.rs b/src/chat.rs
index 4442cb350..36d11f00c 100644
--- a/src/chat.rs
+++ b/src/chat.rs
@@ -916,12 +916,13 @@ fn get_draft_msg_id(context: &Context, chat_id: u32) -> u32 {
         .unwrap_or_default() as u32
 }
 
-pub unsafe fn get_draft(context: &Context, chat_id: u32) -> Result<Message, Error> {
+pub fn get_draft(context: &Context, chat_id: u32) -> Result<Option<Message>, Error> {
     ensure!(chat_id > DC_CHAT_ID_LAST_SPECIAL, "Invalid chat ID");
     let draft_msg_id = get_draft_msg_id(context, chat_id);
-    ensure!(draft_msg_id != 0, "Invalid draft message ID");
-
-    dc_msg_load_from_db(context, draft_msg_id)
+    if draft_msg_id == 0 {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+    Ok(Some(dc_msg_load_from_db(context, draft_msg_id)?))
 }
 
 pub fn get_chat_msgs(context: &Context, chat_id: u32, flags: u32, marker1before: u32) -> Vec<u32> {
@@ -1862,3 +1863,49 @@ pub fn add_device_msg(context: &Context, chat_id: u32, text: impl AsRef<str>) {
         msg_id as uintptr_t,
     );
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    use crate::test_utils::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_get_draft_no_draft() {
+        let t = dummy_context();
+        let chat_id = create_by_contact_id(&t.ctx, DC_CONTACT_ID_SELF).unwrap();
+        let draft = get_draft(&t.ctx, chat_id).unwrap();
+        assert!(draft.is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_get_draft_special_chat_id() {
+        let t = dummy_context();
+        let draft = get_draft(&t.ctx, DC_CHAT_ID_LAST_SPECIAL);
+        assert!(draft.is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_get_draft_no_chat() {
+        // This is a weird case, maybe this should be an error but we
+        // do not get this info from the database currently.
+        let t = dummy_context();
+        let draft = get_draft(&t.ctx, 42).unwrap();
+        assert!(draft.is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_get_draft() {
+        unsafe {
+            let t = dummy_context();
+            let chat_id = create_by_contact_id(&t.ctx, DC_CONTACT_ID_SELF).unwrap();
+            let mut msg = dc_msg_new(Viewtype::Text);
+            dc_msg_set_text(&mut msg, b"hello\x00" as *const u8 as *const libc::c_char);
+            set_draft(&t.ctx, chat_id, Some(&mut msg));
+            let draft = get_draft(&t.ctx, chat_id).unwrap().unwrap();
+            let msg_text = dc_msg_get_text(&msg);
+            let draft_text = dc_msg_get_text(&draft);
+            assert_eq!(as_str(msg_text), as_str(draft_text));
+        }
+    }
+}