diff --git a/daemon.py b/daemon.py
index b961ccecc..ff455f827 100644
--- a/daemon.py
+++ b/daemon.py
@@ -6699,7 +6699,7 @@ class PubServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                                 print('EX: unable to write bold reading ' +
                                       bold_reading_filename)
                     if not bold_reading:
-                        if self.server.bold_reading[nickname]:
+                        if self.server.bold_reading.get(nickname):
                             del self.server.bold_reading[nickname]
                         if os.path.isfile(bold_reading_filename):
                             try:
diff --git a/webapp_profile.py b/webapp_profile.py
index c4f507d08..62579c754 100644
--- a/webapp_profile.py
+++ b/webapp_profile.py
@@ -2186,7 +2186,7 @@ def html_edit_profile(server, css_cache: {}, translate: {},
     domain_full = get_full_domain(domain, port)
 
     bold_reading = False
-    if server.bold_reading[nickname]:
+    if server.bold_reading.get(nickname):
         bold_reading = True
 
     actor_filename = acct_dir(base_dir, nickname, domain) + '.json'