diff --git a/Tusker/Views/Status/TimelineStatusTableViewCell.swift b/Tusker/Views/Status/TimelineStatusTableViewCell.swift
index 3e79462f04..7780957a4b 100644
--- a/Tusker/Views/Status/TimelineStatusTableViewCell.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Views/Status/TimelineStatusTableViewCell.swift
@@ -101,7 +101,10 @@ class TimelineStatusTableViewCell: BaseStatusTableViewCell {
     }
     
     func updateTimestamp() {
-        guard let mastodonController = mastodonController, let status = mastodonController.cache.status(for: statusID) else { fatalError("Missing cached status \(statusID!)") }
+        // if the mastodonController is nil (i.e. the delegate is nil), then the screen this cell was a part of has been deallocated
+        // so we bail out immediately, since there's nothing to update
+        guard let mastodonController = mastodonController else { return }
+        guard let status = mastodonController.cache.status(for: statusID) else { fatalError("Missing cached status \(statusID!)") }
         
         timestampLabel.text = status.createdAt.timeAgoString()
         timestampLabel.accessibilityLabel = TimelineStatusTableViewCell.relativeDateFormatter.localizedString(for: status.createdAt, relativeTo: Date())