diff --git a/src/plugins/irc/irc-protocol.c b/src/plugins/irc/irc-protocol.c
index aae257e87..ee2491f5d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/irc/irc-protocol.c
+++ b/src/plugins/irc/irc-protocol.c
@@ -6249,7 +6249,7 @@ IRC_PROTOCOL_CALLBACK(353)
             free (prefixes);
     }
 
-    if (!ptr_channel)
+    if (!ptr_channel && str_nicks)
     {
         weechat_printf_date_tags (
             irc_msgbuffer_get_target_buffer (