diff --git a/static/js/components/chat.js b/static/js/components/chat.js
index 2122064..ad876ad 100644
--- a/static/js/components/chat.js
+++ b/static/js/components/chat.js
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ const runChat = async () => {
   const { scrollTop, scrollHeight, clientTop } = document.getElementById(
     "chat-container",
   ) ?? { scrollTop: 0, scrollHeight: 0, clientTop: 0};
-  const scrollTopMax = document.getElementById("chat-container").scrollHeight - document.getElementById("chat-container").clientTop;
+  const scrollTopMax = scrollHeight - clientTop;
   const isAtEdge = scrollTop > (0.92 * scrollTopMax) || scrollTop === 0;
   document.getElementById("messages").innerHTML = html;
+  if (!document.getElementById("chat-container")) return;
   const emplacedScrollTopMax = document.getElementById("chat-container").scrollHeight - document.getElementById("chat-container").clientTop;
   if (isAtEdge) {
     document.getElementById("chat-container").scrollTop = scrollTopMax;