diff --git a/src/owncast.go b/src/owncast.go
index 05f2aa9..a6f5fde 100644
--- a/src/owncast.go
+++ b/src/owncast.go
@@ -72,7 +72,14 @@ func oc_process_message(rawmsg map[string]interface{}) {
   /* if the message came from a real user, this is the one we should process */
   if rawmsg["type"] == "CHAT" {
     if !slices.Contains(oc_msg_id_cache, rawmsg["id"].(string)) { /* we have a fresh message here */
-      author := rawmsg["user"].(map[string]interface{})
+      var author map[string]interface{}
+      /* check if the "user" field is present */
+      if _, ok := rawmsg["user"]; ok {
+        author = rawmsg["user"].(map[string]interface{})
+      } else {
+        author["displayName"] = "System"
+      }
+
 
       /* convert the timestamp */
       sent_dt, _ := time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000Z", rawmsg["timestamp"].(string))
@@ -101,9 +108,11 @@ func oc_process_message(rawmsg map[string]interface{}) {
       }
 
       /* add display color hint */
-      dcolor := int(author["displayColor"].(float64))
-      if dcolor > 0 {
-        out_message.Type += fmt.Sprintf("-occolor%d", dcolor)
+      if _, ok := author["displayColor"]; ok {
+        dcolor := int(author["displayColor"].(float64))
+        if dcolor > 0 {
+          out_message.Type += fmt.Sprintf("-occolor%d", dcolor)
+        }
       }
 
       /* finally, send it to the message broker via the message_transport channel */