diff --git a/lib/src/Event.dart b/lib/src/Event.dart
index 5067afb..cbf7b6b 100644
--- a/lib/src/Event.dart
+++ b/lib/src/Event.dart
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ class Event {
   }
 
   /// Generate a new Event object from a json string, mostly a table row.
-  static Event fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> jsonObj, Room room) {
+  static Event fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> jsonObj, Room room,
+      {User senderUser, User stateKeyUser}) {
     Map<String, dynamic> content = jsonObj["content"];
 
     if (content == null && jsonObj["content_json"] != null)
@@ -137,12 +138,16 @@ class Event {
         print("jsonObj decode of event content failed: ${e.toString()}");
         content = {};
       }
+    else if (content == null) content = {};
+
+    if (senderUser == null) senderUser = User.fromJson(jsonObj, room);
+    if (stateKeyUser == null) stateKeyUser = User(jsonObj["state_key"]);
 
     return Event(
       jsonObj["event_id"] ?? jsonObj["id"],
-      User.fromJson(jsonObj, room),
+      senderUser,
       ChatTime(jsonObj["origin_server_ts"]),
-      stateKey: User(jsonObj["state_key"]),
+      stateKey: stateKeyUser,
       environment: jsonObj["type"],
       status: jsonObj["status"] ?? 2,
       content: content,
diff --git a/lib/src/Store.dart b/lib/src/Store.dart
index 7e6b9c6..08214b7 100644
--- a/lib/src/Store.dart
+++ b/lib/src/Store.dart
@@ -463,11 +463,16 @@ class Store {
 
   /// Returns a list of events for the given room and sets all participants.
   Future<List<Event>> getEventList(Room room) async {
+    List<Map<String, dynamic>> memberRes = await db.rawQuery(
+        "SELECT * " + " FROM Users " + " WHERE users.chat_id=?", [room.id]);
+    Map<String, User> userMap = {};
+    for (num i = 0; i < memberRes.length; i++)
+      userMap[memberRes[i]["matrix_id"]] = User.fromJson(memberRes[i], room);
+
     List<Map<String, dynamic>> eventRes = await db.rawQuery(
         "SELECT * " +
-            " FROM Events events, User user " +
+            " FROM Events events " +
             " WHERE events.chat_id=?" +
-            " AND events.sender=user.matrix_id " +
             " GROUP BY events.id " +
             " ORDER BY origin_server_ts DESC",
         [room.id]);
@@ -475,7 +480,9 @@ class Store {
     List<Event> eventList = [];
 
     for (num i = 0; i < eventRes.length; i++)
-      eventList.add(Event.fromJson(eventRes[i], room));
+      eventList.add(Event.fromJson(eventRes[i], room,
+          senderUser: userMap[eventRes[i]["sender"]],
+          stateKeyUser: userMap[eventRes[i]["state_key"]]));
 
     return eventList;
   }
diff --git a/lib/src/User.dart b/lib/src/User.dart
index dedb1ca..cfd93c6 100644
--- a/lib/src/User.dart
+++ b/lib/src/User.dart
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class User {
 
   /// Returns the displayname or the local part of the Matrix ID if the user
   /// has no displayname.
-  String calcDisplayname() => displayName.isEmpty
+  String calcDisplayname() => (displayName == null || displayName.isEmpty)
       ? id.replaceFirst("@", "").split(":")[0]
       : displayName;
 
diff --git a/test/User_test.dart b/test/User_test.dart
index 6991ff5..e6d0ae7 100644
--- a/test/User_test.dart
+++ b/test/User_test.dart
@@ -51,5 +51,14 @@ void main() {
       expect(user.powerLevel, powerLevel);
       expect(user.calcDisplayname(), displayName);
     });
+
+    test("calcDisplayname", () async {
+      final User user1 = User("@alice:example.com");
+      final User user2 = User("@alice:example.com", displayName: "SuperAlice");
+      final User user3 = User("@alice:example.com", displayName: "");
+      expect(user1.calcDisplayname(), "alice");
+      expect(user2.calcDisplayname(), "SuperAlice");
+      expect(user3.calcDisplayname(), "alice");
+    });
   });
 }