diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
index dc418ecb..17e10b66 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
@@ -719,7 +719,11 @@ class TimelineViewController: UIViewController, TimelineLikeCollectionViewContro
                 // there is no existing gap
                 applySnapshotBeforeScrolling = true
             }
-            snapshot.insertItems([.gap], beforeItem: currentItems.first!)
+            if let first = currentItems.first {
+                snapshot.insertItems([.gap], beforeItem: first)
+            } else {
+                snapshot.appendItems([.gap], toSection: .statuses)
+            }
             snapshot.insertItems(presentItems.map { .status(id: $0, collapseState: .unknown, filterState: .unknown) }, beforeItem: .gap)
             
             if applySnapshotBeforeScrolling {