diff --git a/src/TextForEvent.tsx b/src/TextForEvent.tsx
index b63e5b2a00e..439a0799533 100644
--- a/src/TextForEvent.tsx
+++ b/src/TextForEvent.tsx
@@ -572,8 +572,11 @@ function textForPinnedEvent(event: MatrixEvent, client: MatrixClient, allowJSX:
     const senderName = getSenderName(event);
     const roomId = event.getRoomId()!;
 
-    const pinned = event.getContent<{ pinned: string[] }>().pinned ?? [];
-    const previouslyPinned: string[] = event.getPrevContent().pinned ?? [];
+    const content = event.getContent<{ pinned: string[] }>();
+    const prevContent = event.getPrevContent();
+
+    const pinned = Array.isArray(content.pinned) ? content.pinned : [];
+    const previouslyPinned: string[] = Array.isArray(prevContent.pinned) ? prevContent.pinned : [];
     const newlyPinned = pinned.filter((item) => previouslyPinned.indexOf(item) < 0);
     const newlyUnpinned = previouslyPinned.filter((item) => pinned.indexOf(item) < 0);
 
diff --git a/src/Unread.ts b/src/Unread.ts
index e8f4769e25f..d6a80a8f97e 100644
--- a/src/Unread.ts
+++ b/src/Unread.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,12 @@ export function eventTriggersUnreadCount(client: MatrixClient, ev: MatrixEvent):
     }
 
     if (ev.isRedacted()) return false;
-    return haveRendererForEvent(ev, client, false /* hidden messages should never trigger unread counts anyways */);
+    try {
+        return haveRendererForEvent(ev, client, false /* hidden messages should never trigger unread counts anyways */);
+    } catch (e) {
+        console.warn("Error determining if event should trigger unread count", e);
+        return false; // If we can't determine if the event should trigger an unread count, assume it does not.
+    }
 }
 
 export function doesRoomHaveUnreadMessages(room: Room, includeThreads: boolean): boolean {