diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/input/Editor.kt b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/input/Editor.kt
index 02dfc3fa2212eb339d1c11134a2c5980f2da6c99..2beb67c10a44d59919b8592a6c30e67ab6d44721 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/input/Editor.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/input/Editor.kt
@@ -181,8 +181,19 @@ class Editor(
           if (it is AutoCompleteItem.UserItem) {
             val nickName = it.nick
             val senderColorIndex = IrcUserUtils.senderColor(nickName)
-            val initial = nickName.trimStart('-', '_', '[', ']', '{', '}', '|', '`', '^', '.', '\\')
-              .firstOrNull()?.toUpperCase().toString()
+            val rawInitial = nickName.trimStart('-',
+                                                '_',
+                                                '[',
+                                                ']',
+                                                '{',
+                                                '}',
+                                                '|',
+                                                '`',
+                                                '^',
+                                                '.',
+                                                '\\')
+                               .firstOrNull() ?: nickName.firstOrNull()
+            val initial = rawInitial?.toUpperCase().toString()
             val senderColor = senderColors[senderColorIndex]
 
             fun formatNick(nick: CharSequence): CharSequence {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/messages/QuasselMessageRenderer.kt b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/messages/QuasselMessageRenderer.kt
index 53a8f9e2a9bcb8bdfb53449477200931d9d7aa6a..94aa660bba251482efc25600e3d596647c2f1395 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/messages/QuasselMessageRenderer.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/messages/QuasselMessageRenderer.kt
@@ -149,8 +149,9 @@ class QuasselMessageRenderer @Inject constructor(
         val content = contentFormatter.format(context, message.content.content, highlight)
         val nickName = HostmaskHelper.nick(message.content.sender)
         val senderColorIndex = IrcUserUtils.senderColor(nickName)
-        val initial = nickName.trimStart('-', '_', '[', ']', '{', '}', '|', '`', '^', '.', '\\')
-          .firstOrNull()?.toUpperCase().toString()
+        val rawInitial = nickName.trimStart('-', '_', '[', ']', '{', '}', '|', '`', '^', '.', '\\')
+                           .firstOrNull() ?: nickName.firstOrNull()
+        val initial = rawInitial?.toUpperCase().toString()
         val senderColor = if (Message_Flag.of(message.content.flag).hasFlag(Message_Flag.Self))
           selfColor
         else
@@ -464,4 +465,4 @@ class QuasselMessageRenderer @Inject constructor(
     ShowPrefixMode.HIGHEST -> prefix.substring(0, Math.min(prefix.length, 1))
     ShowPrefixMode.NONE    -> ""
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/nicks/NickListFragment.kt b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/nicks/NickListFragment.kt
index 4b399d4782f59867fd29f8374542d3767429911a..edda1525503069d1f96a97bfa6708eb47818db3f 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/nicks/NickListFragment.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/kuschku/quasseldroid/ui/chat/nicks/NickListFragment.kt
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@ class NickListFragment : ServiceBoundFragment() {
       it.map {
         val nickName = it.nick
         val senderColorIndex = IrcUserUtils.senderColor(nickName)
-        val initial = nickName.trimStart('-', '_', '[', ']', '{', '}', '|', '`', '^', '.', '\\')
-          .firstOrNull()?.toUpperCase().toString()
+        val rawInitial = nickName.trimStart('-', '_', '[', ']', '{', '}', '|', '`', '^', '.', '\\')
+                           .firstOrNull() ?: nickName.firstOrNull()
+        val initial = rawInitial?.toUpperCase().toString()
         val senderColor = senderColors[senderColorIndex]
 
 
@@ -164,4 +165,4 @@ class NickListFragment : ServiceBoundFragment() {
   companion object {
     private const val KEY_STATE_LIST = "KEY_STATE_LIST"
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}