diff --git a/src/common/helpers.py b/src/common/helpers.py
index 09a791dd2..b4923080f 100644
--- a/src/common/helpers.py
+++ b/src/common/helpers.py
@@ -143,8 +143,12 @@ def puny_encode_url(url):
     _url = url
     if '//' not in _url:
         _url = '//' + _url
-    o = urllib.parse.urlparse(_url)
-    p_loc = idn_to_ascii(o.netloc)
+    try:
+        o = urllib.parse.urlparse(_url)
+        p_loc = idn_to_ascii(o.netloc)
+    except Exception:
+        log.debug('urlparse failed: %s', url)
+        return False
     return url.replace(o.netloc, p_loc)
 
 def parse_resource(resource):
diff --git a/src/conversation_textview.py b/src/conversation_textview.py
index fd34bd049..0a8a022ce 100644
--- a/src/conversation_textview.py
+++ b/src/conversation_textview.py
@@ -1232,6 +1232,8 @@ class ConversationTextview(GObject.GObject):
                     puny_tags = []
                     if use_other_tags:
                         puny_tags += other_tags
+                    if not puny_text:
+                        puny_text = _('Invalid URL')
                     puny_tags = [(ttt.lookup(t) if isinstance(t, str) else t) for t in puny_tags]
                     buffer_.insert_with_tags(end_iter, " (%s)" % puny_text, *puny_tags)