diff --git a/hc/front/schemas.py b/hc/front/schemas.py
index 7bbd976b..f940bf08 100644
--- a/hc/front/schemas.py
+++ b/hc/front/schemas.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ telegram_callback = {
                 },
                 "text": {"type": "string"}
             },
-            "required": ["chat", "text"]
+            "required": ["chat"]
         }
     },
     "required": ["message"]
diff --git a/hc/front/tests/test_add_telegram.py b/hc/front/tests/test_add_telegram.py
index 35b138f1..b72ffd47 100644
--- a/hc/front/tests/test_add_telegram.py
+++ b/hc/front/tests/test_add_telegram.py
@@ -56,12 +56,15 @@ class AddTelegramTestCase(BaseTestCase):
     def test_bot_handles_bad_message(self, mock_get):
         samples = ["", "{}"]
 
-        # text is missing
+        # text is not string
         samples.append(json.dumps({
-            "message": {"chat": {"id": 123, "type": "group"}}
+            "message": {
+                "chat": {"id": 123, "type": "invalid"},
+                "text": 123
+            }
         }))
 
-        # bad type
+        # bad message type
         samples.append(json.dumps({
             "message": {
                 "chat": {"id": 123, "type": "invalid"},
@@ -74,3 +77,16 @@ class AddTelegramTestCase(BaseTestCase):
                                  content_type="application/json")
 
             self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 400)
+
+    @patch("hc.api.transports.requests.request")
+    def test_it_handles_missing_text(self, mock_get):
+        data = {
+            "message": {
+                "chat": {"id": 123, "title": "My Group", "type": "group"}
+            }
+        }
+        r = self.client.post("/integrations/telegram/bot/", json.dumps(data),
+                             content_type="application/json")
+
+        self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertFalse(mock_get.called)
diff --git a/hc/front/views.py b/hc/front/views.py
index 9f8eb298..d3091f8e 100644
--- a/hc/front/views.py
+++ b/hc/front/views.py
@@ -823,7 +823,8 @@ def telegram_bot(request):
     except jsonschema.ValidationError:
         return HttpResponseBadRequest()
 
-    if "/start" not in doc["message"]["text"]:
+    text = doc["message"].get("text", "")
+    if "/start" not in text:
         return HttpResponse()
 
     chat = doc["message"]["chat"]