diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Notifications/NotificationsTableViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Notifications/NotificationsTableViewController.swift
index 24792cea5..e42636504 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Notifications/NotificationsTableViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Notifications/NotificationsTableViewController.swift
@@ -98,7 +98,9 @@ class NotificationsTableViewController: TimelineLikeTableViewController<Notifica
         mastodonController.run(request) { (response) in
             guard case let .success(newNotifications, pagination) = response else { fatalError() }
             
-            self.newer = pagination?.newer
+            if let newer = pagination?.newer {
+                self.newer = newer
+            }
             
             let groups = NotificationGroup.createGroups(notifications: newNotifications, only: self.groupTypes)
             
diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Profile/ProfileStatusesViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Profile/ProfileStatusesViewController.swift
index ca39f622d..5deec70ac 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Profile/ProfileStatusesViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Profile/ProfileStatusesViewController.swift
@@ -145,7 +145,9 @@ class ProfileStatusesViewController: TimelineLikeTableViewController<TimelineEnt
                 return
             }
             
-            self.newer = pagination?.newer
+            if let newer = pagination?.newer {
+                self.newer = newer
+            }
             
             self.mastodonController.persistentContainer.addAll(statuses: statuses) {
                 completion(statuses.map { ($0.id, .unknown) })
diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineTableViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineTableViewController.swift
index a19fa0c7e..9f13b982e 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineTableViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineTableViewController.swift
@@ -113,7 +113,11 @@ class TimelineTableViewController: TimelineLikeTableViewController<TimelineEntry
         mastodonController.run(request) { (response) in
             guard case let .success(statuses, pagination) = response else { fatalError() }
             
-            self.newer = pagination?.newer
+            // if there are no new statuses, pagination is nil
+            // if we were to then overwrite self.newer, future refreshes would fail
+            if let newer = pagination?.newer {
+                self.newer = newer
+            }
             
             self.mastodonController?.persistentContainer.addAll(statuses: statuses) {
                 completion(statuses.map { ($0.id, .unknown) })