diff --git a/Tusker/Views/Status/BaseStatusTableViewCell.swift b/Tusker/Views/Status/BaseStatusTableViewCell.swift
index ca7d4520..c589a100 100644
--- a/Tusker/Views/Status/BaseStatusTableViewCell.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Views/Status/BaseStatusTableViewCell.swift
@@ -143,7 +143,11 @@ class BaseStatusTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
         }
         
         let reblogDisabled: Bool
-        switch mastodonController.instance.instanceType {
+        switch mastodonController.instance?.instanceType {
+        case nil:
+            // todo: this handle a race condition in instance public timelines
+            // a somewhat better solution would be waiting to load the timeline until after the instance is loaded
+            reblogDisabled = true
         case .mastodon:
             reblogDisabled = status.visibility == .private || status.visibility == .direct
         case .pleroma: