diff --git a/web/src/message_list_view.js b/web/src/message_list_view.js
index 4666eb9cdb..fcc5038144 100644
--- a/web/src/message_list_view.js
+++ b/web/src/message_list_view.js
@@ -289,10 +289,11 @@ function populate_group_from_message_container(group, message_container) {
             // module.  Ideally, we'd clean this up by making the
             // tutorial populate stream_settings_ui.js "properly".
             group.stream_id = -1;
+            group.stream_name = $t({defaultMessage: "Unknown channel"});
         } else {
             group.stream_id = sub.stream_id;
+            group.stream_name = stream_data.get_stream_name_from_id(sub.stream_id);
         }
-        group.stream_name = stream_data.get_stream_name_from_id(sub.stream_id);
         group.is_subscribed = stream_data.is_subscribed(group.stream_id);
         group.topic_is_resolved = resolved_topic.is_resolved(group.topic);
         group.visibility_policy = user_topics.get_topic_visibility_policy(